Institutional Ownership and Corporate Social Performance in Emerging Economies Multinationals: Evidence from India

Abstract

This study fills the gap in the literature by considering the heterogeneous impact of institutional ownership on various dimensions of corporate social performance (CSP). Using the behavioural risk agency perspective, we argue that the risk behaviour of various institutional owners is not the same towards the CSP. We have taken a balanced panel sample of 61 Indian multinational firms for the span of 2013–2018 to test the proposed hypotheses. Results show a negative association of pressure-sensitive institutional investors’ ownership with social and governance dimensions of CSP. Mutual funds ownership is positively associated with the social and governance dimensions of CSP. Foreign institutional investors ownership has no significant impact on CSP. We found that the environmental dimension of CSP is ignored by institutional owners. The moderating effect of firm internationalisation on the relationship between institutional ownership and CSP is also examined.