The effect of corporate social responsibility practices on real earnings management: evidence from a European ESG data

The new trend in the ranking of companies, not only in financial terms but also according to their commitment to ethics and corporate social responsibility (CSR), is explained by the importance of responsible investment and responsible governance criteria in the decision making of the shareholders and other investors. These new business evaluation criteria have attracted the attention of several stakeholders, such as investors, financial analysts, researchers, and also specialized media, that require quality information based on this social and ethical approach. The aim of this article is to examine the link between corporate social responsibility practices and the level of real earnings management (REM) of a sample firms belonging ESG index from five European countries. The variables related to the ethical behavior of companies have a statistically significant and negative relationship with the level of real earnings management. Indeed, the more important the socially responsible and ethical practices are, the less the company engages in an aggressive REM strategy. Thus, the integration of new dimensions in the explanation and determination of the REM is under-explored. The explanation of the quality of the results by ethical or social variables makes it possible to overcome the criticisms addressed to the contractual approaches of companies.