Anti-market sentiment and corporate social responsibility: Evidence from anti-Jewish pogroms

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of anti-market culture on a firm's environmental and social (E&S) outcomes. We use the varying degree of intensity of historical anti-Jewish pogroms in 20 European countries as a quasi-exogenous measure of anti-market sentiment. We show that the historical occurrence of anti-Jewish pogroms in Eastern Europe during the period 1800–1927 generated an enduring anti-market sentiment that continues to influence the E&S performance of present-day firms. This relationship is more pronounced for firms with better corporate governance, which rejects the bad governance view on corporate social responsibilities. Taken together, our results add new evidence in support of the view that corporate social responsibility is responsive to institutional differences and may reflect the presence of an anti-market ideology that has historical roots.