Corporate Social Responsibility Effect on Information Asymmetry

Abstract

This study was aimed to answer the question of whether Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) disclosure as one form of voluntary disclosure can reduce the asymmetric information in Indonesian capital market, as a developing country. In other words, whether information about the performance of CSR provides benefits to investors by reducing uncertainty. The 267 samples used were all companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange from 2014 to 2015, except for the financial and banking industries. Asymmetry information would be measured with bid-ask spreads, the larger the spread, the higher the asymmetry information. CSR disclosure would be measured by content analysis, using the index of previous research that has been adjusted to the conditions in Indonesia, then the sample will be separated based on the mining industry, manufacturing, and services. The results of this study showed that the disclosure of corporate social responsibility could reduce information asymmetry. Companies in the manufacturing industry were more sensitive to social and environmental issues (covered by CSR activities) so that CSR information on this industry was more relevant to investors than to the service industry. Keywords-social responsibility; information asymmetry; industry effect.