The Effect of Accounting Conservatism On Corporate Social Responsibility: Evidence from the Corporate Governance Index in Türkiye.

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to measure whether the companies listed in the BIST Corporate Governance Index have conservative accounting policies and examine the impact of this conservatism on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and its components. Panel data analysis was used in the study. The results mean that companies listed on the BIST Corporate Governance Index prioritize conservative accounting policies and apply them in their financial reports. Additionally, it has been determined that accounting conservatism has a positive impact on companies' CSR scores and their components, with a stronger influence on board of directors scores and stakeholder scores. This finding suggests that companies with conservative accounting policies prioritize the interests of internal management while also valuing external stakeholders.

Keywords

• Accounting conservatism
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Stakeholder theory
• Agency theory.

References

1. Ackerman, R. W. & Bauer, R. A. (1976). Corporate Social Responsiveness: The Modern Dilemma, Virginia: Boston Publishing Company.
2. Ahmed, A. S. & Duellman, S. (2007). Accounting Conservatism and Board of Director Characteristics: An Empirical Analysis, Journal of Accounting and Economics, 43(2-3), 411-437.
3. Ahmed, A. S., Billings, B. K., Morton, R. M. & Stanford-Harris, M. (2002). The role of accounting conservatism in mitigating bondholder-shareholder conflicts over dividend policy and in reducing debt costs. The Accounting Review, 77(4), 867-890.
4. Anagnostopoulou, S. C., Tsekrekos, A. E. & Voulgaris, G. (2021). Accounting conservatism and corporate social responsibility. The British Accounting Review, 53(4). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bar.2020.100942100942.
5. Avrupa Birliği Komisyonu (1995), Accounting Advisory Forum, Prudence and Matching, XV/7002, Brüksel.
6. Ball, R. & Shivakumar, L. (2005). Earnings quality in UK private firms: Comparative loss recognition timeliness. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 39(1), 83-128.
7. Basu, S. (1997). The conservatism principle and the asymmetric timeliness of earnings. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 24(1), 3-37.
8. Beaver, W. H. & Ryan, S. G. (2000). Biases and Lags in Book Value and Their Effects on the Ability of the Bookto-Market Ratio to Predict Book Return on Equity, Journal of Accounting Research, 38(1), 127-148.

9. Bellikli, U. & Daştan, A. (2021). Accounting Conservatism and Intellectual Capital: Evidence from Turkey with Comparison Models and Sectors. Ege Academic Review, 21 (4), 333-355.
10. Beneish, M. & Press, E. (1993). Costs of technical violations of accounting-based debt covenants. The Accounting Review, 68(2), 233-257.
11. Bhandari, A. & Javakhadze, D. (2017). Corporate social responsibility and capital allocation efficiency. Journal of Corporate Finance, 43, 354-377.
12. Buchanan, B., Cao, C. & Chen, C. (2018). Corporate social responsibility, firm value, and influential institutional ownership. Journal of Corporate Finance, 52, 73-95.
13. Burke, Q. L., Chen, P. C. & Lobo, G. J. (2020). Is corporate social responsibility performance related to conditional accounting conservatism? Accounting Horizons, 34(2), 19-40.
14. Caplan, D., Dutta, S. K. & Lawson, R. A. (2013). Corporate social responsibility initiatives across the value chain. Journal of Corporate Finance & Accounting, 24(3), 15-24.
15. Carroll, A. B. (1979). A Three-Dimensional Conceptual Model of Corporate Performance, The Academy of Management Review, 4(4), 497-505.
16. Carroll, A. B. (1991). The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility: Toward the Moral Management of Organizational Stakeholders, Business Horizons, 34(4), 39-48.
17. Cennamo, C., Berrone, P. & Gomez-Mejia, L. (2008). Does stakeholder management have a dark side. Journal of Business Ethics, 89, 491-507.
18. Cheng, B., Ioannou, I. & Serafeim, G. (2014). Corporate social responsibility and access to finance. Strategic Management Journal, 35(1), 1-23.
19. Cheng, C. & Kung, F. (2016). The effects of mandatory corporate social responsibility policy on accounting conservatism. Review of Accounting and Finance, 15(1), 2-20.
20. Chi, W., Liu, C. & Wang, T. (2009). What Affects Accounting Conservatism: A Corporate Governance Perspective, Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, 5(1), 47-59.
21. Choi, B. B., Lee, D. & Park, Y. (2013). Corporate social responsibility, corporate governance and earnings quality: Evidence from Korea. Corporate Governance: An International Review, 21(5), 447- 467.
22. Daştan, A. & Bellikli, U. (2015). Kurumsal Sosyal Sorumluluk ve Muhasebe Etkileşimi: Türkiye’de Kurumsal Yönetim Endeksine Dâhil İşletmelerde Bir Araştırma. Eskişehir Osmangazi Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Dergisi, 10 (1), 177-208.
23. Feltham, G. A. & Ohlson, J. A. (1995). Valuation and Clean Surplus Accounting for Operating and Financial Activities, Contemporary Accounting Research, 11(2), 689-731.
24. Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) (1980), Concepts Statement Nr. 2: Qualitative Characteristics of Accounting Information, Norwalk, CT.
25. Flammer, C. & Bansal, P. (2017). Does a long-term orientation create value? Evidence from a regression discontinuity. Strategic Management Journal, 38(9), 1827-1847.
26. Francis, B., Hasan, I., Park, J. & Wu, Q. (2015). Gender differences in financial reporting decisionmaking: Evidence from accounting conservatism. Contemporary Accounting Research, 32(3), 1285- 1318.
27. Freeman, R. E. (1984). Strategic management: A stakeholder approach. Boston: Pitman.
28. Friedman, M. (1970). Comment on Tobin. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 84(2), 318-327.
29. Gao, F., Lisic, L. L. & Zhang, I. X. (2014). Commitment to social good and insider trading. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 57(2-3), 149-175.
30. Garanina, G. & Kim, O. (2023). The relationship between CSR disclosure and accounting conservatism: The role of state ownership, Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, 50, 1-24.
31. Garanina, T. & Aray, Y. (2021). Enhancing CSR disclosure through foreign ownership, foreign board members, and cross-listing: Does it work in Russian context? Emerging Markets Review, 46.
32. García L. J., García O. B. & Penalva, F. (2009). Accounting conservatism and corporate governance. Review of Accounting Studies, 14(1), 161-201.
33. Gör, Y. & Tekin, B. (2018). Muhafazakâr muhasebe uygulamalarının kurumsallaşmış şirketlerdeki etkisi üzerine bir çalışma. İşletme Çalışmaları Dergisi, 10(2), 13-26.
34. Graafland, J. & Smid, H. (2019). Decoupling among CSR policies, programs, and impacts: An empirical study. Business & Society, 58(2), 231-267.
35. Gras-Gil, E., Palacios Manzano, M. & Hernández Fernández, J. (2016). Investigating the relationship between corporate social responsibility and earnings management: Evidence from Spain. BRQ Business Research Quarterly, 19(4), 289-299.
36. Guo, J., Huang, P. & Zhang, Y. (2020). Accounting conservatism and corporate social responsibility, Advances in Accounting, 51, 1-10.
37. Harjoto, M. & Laksmana, I. (2018). The impact of corporate social responsibility on risk taking and firm value. Journal of Business Ethics, 151(2), 353-373.
38. Hemingway, C. A. & Maclagan, P. W. (2004). Managers’ personal values as drivers of corporate social responsibility. Journal of Business Ethics, 50(1), 33- 44. https://borsaistanbul.com/tr/sayfa/163/kurumsalyonetim-endeksi (Erişim: 15.05.2023).
39. Hui, K. W., Matsunaga, S. & Morse, D. (2009). The Impact of Conservatism on Management Earnings Forecasts, Journal of Accounting and Economics, 47(3), 192-207.
40. International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) (2002). Framework for the Preparation and Presentation of Financial Statements, the IFRS Framework, New York.
41. Khan, M. & Watts, R. L. (2009). Estimation and empirical properties of a firm-year measure of accounting conservatism. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 48(2-3), 132-150.
42. Kim, Y., Li, S., Pan, C. & Zuo, L. (2013). The role of accounting conservatism in the equity market: Evidence from seasoned equity offerings. The Accounting Review, 88(4), 1327-1356.
43. Kung, F. H. A., Ting, C. W. & James, K. (2008). Accounting conservatism in greater China: The influence of institutions and incentives. Asian Review of Accounting, 16(2), 134-148.
44. Kuznetsov, A., Kuznetsova, O. & Warren, R. (2009). CSR and the legitimacy of business in transition economies: The case of Russia. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 25(1), 37-45.
45. LaFond, R. & Watts, R. L. (2008). The information role of conservatism. The Accounting Review, 83(2), 447– 478.
46. Lin, Z. J. & Chen, F. (1999). Applicability of The Conservatism Accounting Convention in China: Empirical Evidence, The International Journal of Accounting, 34(4), 517-537.
47. The Effect of Accounting Conservatism on Corporate Social Responsibility: Evidence from the Corporate Governance Index in Türkiye
48. Lins, K. V., Servaes, H. & Tamayo, A. (2017). Social capital, trust, and firm performance: The value of corporate social responsibility during the financial crisis. The Journal of Finance, 72(4), 1785-1824.
49. Mardiana, N., Nuzula, N. F. & Damayanti, C. R. (2022). Corporate Governance and Socially Responsible an Accounting Conservatism and Earnings Management in Indonesia’s Soe Enterprises, Profit: Jurnal Administrasi Bisnis, 16(2), 216-229.
50. Noor, A., Lahaya, I. A., Kurniawan, I. S., Najat, S. & Hafidz, S. A. (2021). CSR Disclosures: Role and Relationship to Accounting Conservatism in Improving Earnings of Quality, Jurnal Keuangan dan Perbankan, 25(3), 585-598.
51. Parsa, S., Dai, N., Belal, A., Li, T. & Tang, G. (2021). Corporate social responsibility reporting in China: Political, social and corporate influences. Accounting and Business Research, 51(1), 36-64.
52. Polat, Z. G. (2016). Muhasebede İhtiyatlılık ve Kurumsal Yönetim: Borsa İstanbul Üzerine Ampirik Bir Uygulama, Master Dissertation, Dumlupınar Üniversitesi-Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü.
53. Ruch, G. W. & Taylor, G. (2015). Accounting conservatism: A review of the literature. Journal of Accounting Literature, 34, 17-38.
54. Tatoğlu, F. Y. (2016). Panel Veri Ekonometrisi (Stata Uygulamalı), Genişletilmiş 3. Baskı, İstanbul: Beta Yayınları.
55. Watts, R. L. (2003). Conservatism in accounting e Part I: Explanations and implications. Accounting Horizons, 17(3), 207-221.
56. Xie, Y. (2015). Confusion over accounting conservatism: A critical review, Australian Accounting Review, 73, 25(2), 204-216.
57. Yu, W. & Zheng, Y. (2020). Does CSR reporting matter to foreign institutional investors in China? Journal of nternational Accounting. Auditing and Taxation, 40.
58. Yunos, R.M., Ahmad, S.A. & Sulaiman, N. (2014). The influence of internal governance mechanisms on accounting conservatism, Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 164, 501-507.
59. Zhang, X. (2000). Conservative Accounting and Equity Valuation, Journal of Accounting and Economics, 29(1), 125-149.