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Research papers on Corporate social responsibility

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  1. Corporate Social Responsibility: a Theory of the Firm Perspective

    Abagail McWilliams, Donald S. Siegel · 2001 · Academy of Management Review · 5,785 citations

    We outline a supply and demand model of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Based on this framework, we hypothesize that a firm's level of CSR will depend on its size, level of diversification, research and development, advertising, government sales, consumer income, labor market conditions, and stage in the industry life cycle. From these hypotheses, we conclude that there is an “ideal” level of CSR, which managers can determine via cost-benefit analysis, and that there is a neutral relationship between CSR and financial performance.

  2. Voluntary Nonfinancial Disclosure and the Cost of Equity Capital: The Initiation of Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting

    Dan S. Dhaliwal, Oliver Zhen Li, Albert Tsang, et al. · 2010 · The Accounting Review · 3,984 citations

    ABSTRACT: We examine a potential benefit associated with the initiation of voluntary disclosure of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities: a reduction in firms’ cost of equity capital. We find that firms with a high cost of equity capital in the previous year tend to initiate disclosure of CSR activities in the current year and that initiating firms with superior social responsibility performance enjoy a subsequent reduction in the cost of equity capital. Further, initiating firms with superior social responsibility performance attract dedicated institutional investors and analyst coverage. Moreover, these analysts achieve lower absolute forecast errors and dispersion. Finally, we

  3. Corporate social responsibility and access to finance

    Beiting Cheng, Ioannis Ioannou, George Serafeim · 2013 · Strategic Management Journal · 3,750 citations

    We investigate whether superior performance on corporate social responsibility ( CSR ) strategies leads to better access to finance. We hypothesize that better access to finance can be attributed to (1) reduced agency costs due to enhanced stakeholder engagement and (2) reduced informational asymmetry due to increased transparency. Using a large cross‐section of firms, we find that firms with better CSR performance face significantly lower capital constraints. We provide evidence that both better stakeholder engagement and transparency around CSR performance are important in reducing capital constraints. The results are further confirmed using several alternative measures of capital constrai

  4. Corporate social responsibility and financial performance: correlation or misspecification?

    Abagail McWilliams, Donald S. Siegel · 2000 · Strategic Management Journal · 3,590 citations

    Researchers have reported a positive, negative, and neutral impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on financial performance. This inconsistency may be due to flawed empirical analysis. In this paper, we demonstrate a particular flaw in existing econometric studies of the relationship between social and financial performance. These studies estimate the effect of CSR by regressing firm performance on corporate social performance, and several control variables. This model is misspecified because it does not control for investment in R&D, which has been shown to be an important determinant of firm performance. This misspecification results in upwardly biased estimates of the financial i

  5. Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Financial Performance

    Jean Β. McGuire, Alison Sundgren, Thomas Schneeweis · 1988 · Academy of Management Journal · 2,453 citations

    Using Fortune magazine's ratings of corporate reputations, we analyzed the relationships between perceptions of firms’ corporate social responsibility and measures of their financial performance. Results show that a firm's prior performance, assessed by both stock-market returns and accounting-based measures, is more closely related to corporate social responsibility than is subsequent performance. Results also show that measures of risk are more closely associated with social responsibility than previous studies have suggested.

  9. Washing Away Your Sins? Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Social Irresponsibility, and Firm Performance

    Charles Kang, Frank Germann, Rajdeep Grewal · 2015 · Journal of Marketing · 543 citations

    The authors address the questions of whether and how corporate social responsibility (CSR) relates to firm performance and, in so doing, identify four mechanisms pertaining to this relationship: (1) slack resources lead to CSR (i.e., slack resources mechanism) (2) CSR improves performance (i.e., good management mechanism), (3) CSR makes amends for past corporate social irresponsibility (CSI) (i.e., penance mechanism), and (4) CSR insures against subsequent CSI (i.e., insurance mechanism). Using an integrative approach, the authors incorporate the four mechanisms in their empirical model specification. Specifically, to model the interplay among CSR, CSI, and firm performance and to test the f

  10. Understanding the influence of corporate social responsibility on corporate identity, image, and firm performance

    Sebastian Arendt, Malte Brettel · 2010 · Management Decision · 367 citations

    Purpose The aim of this paper is to examine the effects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on corporate identity, image and firm performance in a multi‐industry setting, in order to support evidence that the effects of CSR differ in different industry settings. Design/methodology/approach The study, based on pre‐existing CSR scales, was tested using data collected from a sample of 389 European companies. Hypotheses are based on the examination of the moderating effects of CSR using a group comparison method. Findings Contingency models show that CSR triggers the corporate‐image‐building process and that its relationship to company success varies significantly based on company size, ind

  11. Corporate social responsibility, firm performance and the moderating effect of earnings management in Chinese firms

    Muhammad Safdar Sial, Zheng Chunmei, Tehmina Khan, et al. · 2018 · Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Administration · 107 citations

    Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and firm performance and the moderating role of earnings management on the relationship between CSR and firm performance. Design/methodology/approach The empirical study used the updated data set (3,481 unbalanced observations for period 2009–2015) from Chinese listed companies on Shenzhen and Shanghai stock exchanges. The generalized method of moments (GMM) statistical approach has been used for the analysis. The authors utilized STATA to test GMM on a sample of Chinese listed firms data over the period 2009–2015. The unbalanced sample obtained 3,481 observations from China stock m

  12. Corporate social responsibility's influence on firm risk and firm performance: the mediating role of firm reputation

    Zia ur Rehman, Asad Khan, Asim Rahman · 2020 · Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management · 106 citations

    AbstractThe aim of the article is to analyze the influence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives by firm on firm performance and firm risk. Moreover, the mediating role of firm reputation in CSR/performance and CSR/risk relationship is also examined. Data were collected from European and Asian firms listed on Fortune's Most Admired Countries for the period 2014–2018. Using logit regression model and OLS regressions, we find that CSR has a significant positive influence on firm reputation and firm performance whereas on firm risk it is negative. Based on our results, we also confirm that firm reputation does mediate the relationship between CSR‐firm performance and CSR‐firm ris

  13. Corporate social responsibility activities and firm performance: The moderating role of strategic emphasis and industry competition

    Xingping Jia · 2020 · Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management · 103 citations

    AbstractThis study extends the literature on the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities and firm performance by incorporating the role of strategic emphasis, defined as the resources that firms allocate to value appropriation (with the emphasis on advertising expenditure) versus value creation (with the emphasis on research and development investment), and how industry competition creates a three‐way interaction with CSR and strategic emphasis to affect firm performance. Using data from 3,401 publicly traded firm‐year observations in China for the years 2009–2015, the study demonstrates that CSR enhances firm performance when the firm's strategy emphasizes valu

  14. Impact of strategic management, corporate social responsibility on firm performance in the post mandate period: evidence from India

    Nayan Mitra · 2021 · International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility · 19 citations

    AbstractCorporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is like a chameleon, that changes its colour according to the context it is in. In the developed economy, it takes the form of sustainability and/ or philanthropy, whereas, in emerging economies, it speaks the language of religious, political and/ or mandated CSR. India, in recent times came into the limelight with its mandated CSR policy that was incorporated into its Companies Act 2013, which became operational from the financial year 2014 - 2015. Mandated CSR is thus a new area of study that is based on the philosophy that ‘CSR should contribute to the national agenda in emerging economies,’ under some statutory guidelines as laid down by the

  15. Does R&D investment under corporate social responsibility increase firm performance?

    Yu-Chun Lin · 2017 · Investment Management and Financial Innovations · 7 citations

    Research and development (R&D) investment affects firms’ growth and reflects their investment energy. However, it is recorded as an expense in financial statements, according to generally accepted accounting principles (e.g., International Financial Statements Standards). This study examines whether firms’ R&D investment has a positive effect on their performance, when they engage in corporate social responsibility. The author focuses on firms that have earned corporate social responsibility awards from Global Views Magazine, Common Wealth Magazine, and the Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy in order to measure firms’ levels of corporate social responsibility eng

  16. Corporate social responsibility disclosure and firm performance: Evidence from Vietnam

    Ngoc Mai Tran, Manh Ha Tran · 2022 · Investment Management and Financial Innovations · 4 citations

    Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is quite a new concept to business and society in Vietnam. Information on CSR reflects a firm’s commitment to ethical behavior in its activities and reputation. However, it is questioned whether the information disclosure has any relationship with firm performance. Employing panel regression of about 200 listed firms on the Vietnam Stock Exchange and space-based measurement of CSR disclosure, the study confirms a positive impact of CSR disclosure on firm performance. Firms use CSR disclosures to indirectly improve their performance. Firms that disclose CSR with greater degree of information experience higher marginal profitability. This finding supports

  17. Good Corporate Governance, Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Performance: Study on Copmpaies Listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange

    Tamarinda Filia Dona dan Sutrisno · 2022 · Account and Financial Management Journal · 2 citations

    One of the obligations of a companies that go public is the disclosure of information and the company's concern for the community as indicated by the company's obligation to implement good corporate governance (GCG) and corporate social responsibility (CSR). This study aims to examine the effect of corporate governance mechanisms and corporate social responsibility on firm performance. Firm performance is measured by return on equity (ROE), while the corporate governance mechanism is proxied by institutional ownership, independent board of commissioner, audit committee, while corporate social responsibility is measured by the number of CSR items disclosed. This study uses firm size as a cont

  19. Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure, Ownership Concentration, and Firm Performance: Evidence from Indonesia

    Nicolas Bayu Kristiawan · 2026 · International Journal of Social Science and Human Research

    This study investigates the association between corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSRD) and firm performance, and investigates whether ownership concentration moderates this relationship in Indonesian listed companies. Grounded in stakeholder and agency theories, the study posits that the economic effects of CSR disclosure are influenced by institutional conditions in emerging markets characterized by concentrated ownership structures. Using data from 92 firms listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange over the 2013–2018 period, resulting in 552 firm-year observations, the analysis employs multivariate regression models. CSRD is measured based on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G

  20. PENGARUH CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, CORPORATE GOVERNANCE, DAN FIRM AGE TERHADAP FIRM PERFORMANCE

    Joan Adesaputra, Yanti Yanti · 2022 · Jurnal Paradigma Akuntansi

    The purpose of this research is to empirically examine the influence of corporate social responsibility, corporate governance and firm age toward firm performance measured with Return on Assets (ROA). Corporate social responsibility measured by Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) index, corporate governance measured by board size and independent boards, and firm age measured by the number of years the company has been established. This research uses purposive sampling method with a total sample of 62 companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in 2017-2019 periods. The results of this study indicate that corporate social responsibility and board size have no significant effect on firm per

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