Is corporate social responsibility reporting a tool of signaling or greenwashing? Evidence from the worldwide logistics sector

Drawing on signaling and greenwashing theories, the objective of this study is to investigate the association between corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance and CSR reporting in the logistics sector. The CSR performance was proxied by the composite ESG (environmental, social, and governance) indicator as well as its three pillars. For this purpose, the data was derived from the Thomson Reuters Eikon database for the years between 2012 and 2018. According to the results, companies with greater CSR performance are more likely to publish a CSR report and companies with greater CSR performance are more likely to publish a higher number of CSR reports. Thus, the results confirm the validity of the signaling theory and reject greenwashing tendency in the logistics sector. Upon findings, we suggest several implications for the logistics sector, academics, firms, and shareholders as well as stakeholders. The proven link between CSR performance-reporting sends very important signals to shareholders and other stakeholders such that the information embedded in the reports reflect the actual realization of CSR practices.