Corporate Social Responsibility in Terms of Sustainable Development: Financial Risk Management Implications

Abstract

The motivation for this study was a new context associated with the increased cyclical nature of the economy and, accordingly, the increased financial risks of the business, which complicated the implementation of corporate social responsibility. The purpose of the article is to explore the relationship of corporate social responsibility with the financial risks of the business and explain this relationship in terms of sustainable development (SDGs). The article contributes to the development of the concept of financial risks of the business by clarifying their connection with corporate social responsibility and substantiating the relationship between the financial risks of the business. Structural equation modeling (SEM) showed that in 2020–2021, financial risks have demonstrated a complex (in most cases negative) relationship with each other and a contradictory impact on corporate social responsibility. The complex systemic relationship between corporate social responsibility and financial risks of business from the point of view of sustainable development is substantiated. In the context of increased financial risks, by systematically implementing SDGs 8, 9, 11, and 12, responsible companies get the opportunity to restore and improve their position in the market. The significance of the findings for businesses is that they proposed the SDGs as a promising new benchmark for business financial risk management. This will allow responsible companies to find a new Pareto optimum in the current conditions of uncertainty and determine for themselves the preferred level of corporate social responsibility that contributes to the effective financial risks of business management in the long term.