Do Firms Release CSR Reports Simply To Gain Legitimacy Without Offering Substantive Information? Evidence from Managers' Adherence to Boilerplate Language

Based on the unique corporate ownership structure in China, we document that although firms tend to release corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports to convey that they are acting in the broader interests of society, those with inherently higher legitimacy (local government-owned firms) are likely to circumvent substantive disclosure in CSR reports by using industry and market boilerplate language. Both economic and environmental pressures increase firms' reliance on boilerplate language. Firms compulsory to release CSR reports are more likely to follow boilerplate language due to "minimum-requirement" orientation. Additional tests show that when firms release boilerplate reports, stock price crash risk increases