Corporate Social Irresponsibility Research Articles

The Influence of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Consideration of Corporate Social Irresponsibility by Sovereign Wealth Funds

The Influence of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Consideration of Corporate Social Irresponsibility by Sovereign Wealth Funds

Marital status and the “S” in ESG management

ABSTRACT We analyse the ways CEO marital status and corporate social irresponsibility (CSI) might interact. Firms with married CEOs have lower incidence of negative CSI news coverage. Such firms also tend to have better employee relations and stronger diversity initiatives – employee relations and diversity initiatives are associated with reduced incidence of negative CSI coverage, but only for firms with married CEOs. Results suggest married CEOs foster a work environment that is more conducive to corporate social responsibility. We conclude that marriage is an observable proxy for pro-social behavioural tendencies that manifest in the form of less CSI. Our findings extend the literature on CEO personal characteristics and corporate outcomes.

Dual Social Responsibility: The Pathway Effects and Mechanisms of Benevolent and Malevolent Actions on Firm Performance

ABSTRACTWhile doing good things, enterprises may also be subject to subjective or unintentional behaviors of doing bad things, and corporate performance is comprehensively affected by its dual social responsibility. Using data from A‐share listed companies from 2010 to 2020, this paper, grounded in signaling theory, legitimacy theory, and stakeholder theory, analyzes the dual‐path effects, comprehensive effects, and boundary effects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate social irresponsibility (CSIR) on corporate performance. It innovatively introduces innovation efficiency as a mediating variable to examine its transmission mechanism and pathways in the influence of dual social responsibility on corporate performance. The study finds that CSR and CSIR have independent and heterogeneous effects on corporate performance, with the former exhibiting an inverted U‐shaped relationship with corporate performance and the latter consistently exerting a negative impact. The coexistence and interaction of CSR and CSIR have a comprehensive effect on corporate performance, where CSR performance can mitigate the negative impact of CSIR, and there exists a threshold effect. CSR has a nonlinear impact on innovation efficiency, and innovation efficiency plays a significant mediating role in the process of CSR and CSIR affecting corporate performance. The industrial environment competition plays a moderating role in the relationship between a company's dual social behavior and its performance. The higher the industrial environment competition, the more it will accelerate and intensify the negative impact of CSIR on corporate performance. Additionally, it will steepen the inverted U‐shaped curve of CSR influencing corporate performance and shift the inflection point to the left. This study not only extends the boundaries of research on the impact of CSIR on corporate performance but also provides insights for corporate social responsibility governance and ethical decision‐making in business.

Price-related consequences of corporate social (ir)responsibility

While corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate social irresponsibility (CSI) have, respectively, positive and negative effects on consumers’ brand responses, their price-related consequences are often overlooked in extant literature. Drawing on attribution theory and negativity bias, we examine the impact of brands’ (ir)responsible behavior on consumers’ multiple price perceptions by applying Van Westendorp’s ‘pricing footprint’. In four experimental studies we show that consumers’ lower price perceptions following CSI are robust and the magnitude of CSI’s impact is greater than that of CSR in the higher price categories (expensive, too expensive). The positive effects of CSR are contingent on the specific CSR domain and the public/private consumption status of the product. Social (versus environmental) CSR generates higher price perceptions, and the magnitude of its impact outperforms that of CSI in the lower price categories (too cheap, cheap). The positive effects of environmental CSR are limited, particularly for privately consumed products.

A Multilevel Perspective of Organized and Intentional Corporate Social Irresponsibility

A Multilevel Perspective of Organized and Intentional Corporate Social Irresponsibility

Investor Perception of Corporate Social Irresponsibility (CSiR) and Investing Decisions

The study examines a behavioral finance paradigm, where investors incorporate emotional/expressive and financial factors. The impact of emotional ties to the firm’s products and an expressive factor such as corporate social irresponsibility (CSiR) are examined to determine whether their investment decisions are based on them. We find that investors make decisions that are wealth maximizing as well as emotional/expressive. Moreover, we find that our respondents believe corporate profits should not come from using the cheapest labor nor from engaging in CSiR behavior, and they would be less likely to invest in such a firm.

ESG pay and corporate social irresponsibility: Does culture matter?

AbstractDespite the detrimental consequences of corporate social irresponsibility (CSiR), the role of monitoring and incentive‐based corporate governance (CG) mechanisms in mitigating stakeholder mismanagement has been largely neglected in the literature. At the same time, there has been growing interest in holding executives accountable for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance by linking their compensation to related targets. However, prior research provides scant and inconclusive evidence on the effectiveness of ESG pay in curbing CSiR. This study addresses these shortcomings and contributes to the emerging CSiR/CG literature by harnessing an institution‐based view on executive compensation. Specifically, it recognizes national culture as the “missing determinant” in comparative CG studies and investigates the culturally‐driven boundary conditions for the relationship between ESG pay and CSiR. The hypotheses were tested on a data set of 4066 firms from 56 countries during 2010–2020. The analysis supports a negative, though modest, effect of ESG pay on CSiR. Furthermore, the study shows that this relationship varies in statistical and economic significance across cultural contexts. Particularly, incentives prove effective for firms headquartered in nations characterized by low power distance, individualism, low uncertainty avoidance, and masculinity. Conversely, in other settings, compensation linked to ESG may either lack motivational impact or even yield counterproductive outcomes. These findings have implications for both the CSiR and CG literature, as well as for practice.

Entrepreneurs and Corporate Social Irresponsibility

Entrepreneurs and Corporate Social Irresponsibility

There Is a Dark Side to Everything: CEO Creativity and Corporate Social Irresponsibility

There Is a Dark Side to Everything: CEO Creativity and Corporate Social Irresponsibility

The Price of Risk: Corporate Social Irresponsibility and New CEO Compensation

The Price of Risk: Corporate Social Irresponsibility and New CEO Compensation

Corporate Social Irresponsibility: A Literature Review and Research Agenda

Corporate Social Irresponsibility: A Literature Review and Research Agenda

When Innovator Casts A Shadow: CEO Inventor Experience and Corporate Social Irresponsibility

When Innovator Casts A Shadow: CEO Inventor Experience and Corporate Social Irresponsibility

Shareholder Activism, Corporate Social Irresponsibility, and Obfuscation

Shareholder Activism, Corporate Social Irresponsibility, and Obfuscation

Bearing the Burden: The Effects of Corporate Social Irresponsibility on Employees

Bearing the Burden: The Effects of Corporate Social Irresponsibility on Employees

Political Corporate Social Irresponsibility and Lebanon’s Garbage Mountain

Political Corporate Social Irresponsibility and Lebanon’s Garbage Mountain

Media Coverage of Corporate Social Irresponsibility and Firm value: The Moderating Role of CSR Contracting

ABSTRACT This study investigates the role of CSR contracting in the relationship between negative media coverage of corporate social irresponsibility (CSiR) and firm value. By analyzing firms from 44 countries spanning the period 2003–2016, we find that media coverage of CSiR motivates firms to employ CSR contracting as a means of restoring their reputation, which in turn, leads to increased levels of CSR engagement and higher firm value. These findings align with theoretical arguments suggesting that CSR contracting can serve as an effective mechanism for improving a firm’s CSR reputation, thus enabling them to remedy damage caused by media coverage of CSiR and boost firm value.

Metaverse and corporate social irresponsibility

Metaverse and corporate social irresponsibility

A double‐edged sword: Interim CEO and corporate social (ir)responsibility activities

AbstractEmploying an interim CEO is one of the key strategies organizations use to address urgent changes in leadership, yet there is a notable lack of attention in existing corporate governance literature regarding their impact on non‐market strategic behaviors. In an effort to bridge this gap, our study integrates institutional theory with impression management literature. Based on unbalanced panel data from Chinese non‐state‐owned listed companies from 2010 to 2019, the study finds that the succession of an interim CEO is associated with a simultaneous reduction in both corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate social irresponsibility (CSI) activities. The negative relationship between interim CEO and CSI activities is weaken in the context of high institutional voids. Mechanism analysis reveals that interim CEOs tend to focus more on the present and allocate more attention toward external stakeholder management strategies and low‐cost and efficiency strategies. Additional analysis indicates that in the face of negative financial performance aspirations, interim CEOs are more likely to reduce CSR activities. Similarly, when confronted with negative social performance aspirations, interim CEOs tend to decrease CSI activities to a greater extent.

Managers, don't neglect your prospective employees to achieve your sustainability development goals

AbstractInstances of corporate social irresponsibility (CSI) in popular media, coupled with its negative consequences behooves a systematic assessment of the consequences of CSI. This study responds to calls for such research. Specifically, drawing on attribution theory, we investigate the role of CSI on prospective employees' employment intention (EI) and negative word‐of‐mouth (NWOM) propensity and the role of other condemning moral emotions (OCME) in mediating the relationship between CSI and EI and NWOM propensity. In addition, drawing on construal level theory, we investigate if psychological distance moderates the relationship between CSI and OCME, and thereby, impacts the mediation from CSI to EI and NWOM propensity through OCME. Results indicate that CSI decreases EI and enhances NWOM propensity, and these relationships are mediated via OCME. PD enhances the effect of CSI on EI and NWOM propensity through OCME such that lower PD is associated with a lower EI and higher NWOM propensity.

ESG and the Cost of Debt: Role of Media Coverage

This study delves into the interplay between the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) ratings and the debt costs incurred by Korean-listed companies, highlighting their pivotal significance in today’s corporate ecosystem. Our primary focus is to explore how the extent of media coverage moderates this relationship, thereby shedding light on the pivotal role that public scrutiny plays in shaping a company’s financial outcomes. Utilizing the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression model, we rigorously control for industry and year effects, as well as firm-specific variations. Additionally, we conduct a series of supplementary analyses and robust tests to further strengthen the credibility of our findings. Our empirical analysis reveals that firms with poor ESG ratings, indicating corporate social irresponsibility, incur higher debt costs in the subsequent period. Notably, this adverse financial impact is significantly alleviated for companies that enjoy higher media coverage. This notable discovery underscores the potential of media scrutiny to reduce the financial burden imposed by inadequate ESG performance. Our results suggest that companies, especially those with limited media attention, should prioritize enhancing their ESG performance to mitigate potential financial implications. Overall, our research contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the intersection between corporate social responsibility, media coverage, and financial performance.