The Role of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Disclosure in Reducing Earnings Management and its Impact on Investor Confidence : A comparative study of a sample of Iraqi banks

الملخص

The research addresses the problem of varying levels of social responsibility disclosure in the banks included in the study sample, and the impact of this on earnings management and investor confidence, relying on the descriptive analytical approach and financial data analysis using SPSS version.27. The research aims to demonstrate the role of social responsibility disclosure in reducing earnings management practices, and to analyze its impact on investor confidence, as well as to test the mediating role of earnings management in the relationship between social responsibility disclosure and investor confidence, through a comparative study of a sample of Iraqi banks that included the Commercial Bank of Iraq, the Gulf Commercial Bank, and Al Mansour Bank for the period 2019–2022The research relied on corporate social responsibility disclosure as the independent variable, earnings management as the mediating variable, and investor confidence as the dependent variable, measured by earnings per share. The research found a clear disparity among the banks in the study sample in terms of levels of corporate social responsibility disclosure and investor confidence. The results also showed a strong and statistically significant positive correlation between the Commercial Bank of Iraq and Al-Mansour Bank in investor confidence levels, while each bank demonstrated independence in its earnings management practices, with no significant correlation found  Among them. The research recommends the need to enhance transparency in social disclosure and reduce practices of manipulating accounting profits, which contributes to presenting an honest financial picture that reflects the actual performance of banks and supports investor confidence in the Iraqi   banking    environment