Commentary: On theory, data, and interpreting results in political CSR research: Reflecting on “Do firms put their money where their mouth is? Sociopolitical claims and corporate political activity”

Abstract

In examining whether firms align their sociopolitical claims with their corporate political activities (CPA), Preuss and Max (2023) tackle a topic of keen interest to the Accounting, Organizations and Society (AOS), corporate social responsibility (CSR), and broader interdisciplinary accounting research communities. They document partial alignment between firms' diversity and environmental claims and the voting records of U.S. Congress members they financially support through political action committee (PAC) contributions, but also report several important caveats. Given that firm strategies on CSR and CPA often are played on ‘two (different) chessboards’ (Den Hond, Rehbein, de Bakker, & Lankveld, 2014), a study such as theirs is difficult to accomplish successfully. I applaud their efforts and believe the objective of their study was met. In my commentary, I use their study as a springboard to discuss key considerations regarding theory, data, and the interpretation of results when performing political CSR research in accounting.