Accounting and society : a holistic perspective on corporate social responsibility [cumulative dissertation]

This dissertation comprises three empirical studies on corporate social responsibility (CSR). The first study examines how an exogenous increase in agency problems affects CSR investment decisions. The second study examines whether the value relevance of CSR reporting is affected by customer profile differences. The third study examines how national culture shapes several fundamental corporate decisions determining the credibility of CSR reports. Collectively, the three studies provide novel and holistic evidence on why managers pursue CSR. 1. Steindl, T., Hellmann, A. and Goettsche M. 2017. Building a social empire? Managerial preferences, shareholder litigation, and corporate social responsibility. Working Paper. 2. Goettsche, M., Steindl T. and Gietl S. 2016. Do customers affect the value relevance of corporate social responsibility reporting? Empirical evidence on stakeholder interdependence. Business Strategy and the Environment 25(3): 149-164. 3. Steindl, T. 2017. Cultural rule orientation, legal institutions, and the credibility of corporate social responsibility reports. Working Paper.