Correlation Between Banks Corporate Social Responsibility And Profitability: A Study of UAE, Bangladesh and India

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to correlate bank investments into Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives with the financial performance of profitability measured as Return on Assets (RAO) or Return on Equity (ROE). The selected bank from UAE was Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB). From Bangladesh, the selected Public Commercial Banks were Dutch-Bangla Bank Ltd. (DBBL) and Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd (IBBL) and selected State-Owned Banks are Janata Bank Ltd (JBL) and Rupali Bank Ltd. (RBL). From India, the selected banks were ICICI and Axis. The study methodology was KLD Research Analytics and Correlation Coefficient of the Year on Year (YoY) change of the CSR versus profits. There were result outcomes across all these tests. The YoY comparison for ADCB from UAE shows a negative coefficient but strengthening the correlation between CSR and profitability over the five year period. The YoY comparison of ICICI for CSR % to profitability impact had weak correlation and fluctuating coefficient. The YoY comparison for Axis bank showed that the correlation between CSR expenditure and profit is largely positive and the coefficient is also significant. The comparison for PCBs DBBL and IBBL revealed that there was a positive correlation with the profitability, but the YoY CSR% to profitability change shows a weak coefficient. The comparison between the State-Owned Banks JBL and RBL shows that the YoY comparison of CSR% to profitability has a weak correlation but insignificant coefficient. In conclusion, banks should undertake ethical CSR when pursuing profitability.