Corporate Social Performance Research Articles

More Social, More Socially Responsible? The Impact of CEO Social Media Use on Corporate Social Performance

AbstractNowadays, more and more firm chief executive officers (CEOs) are using social media to join online conversations and interact with stakeholders. As this social media presence shows their social participation tendencies, such CEOs have been described as ‘social CEOs’. Building on an upper‐echelon perspective of corporate social responsibility (CSR), this study examines whether social CEOs and the implications of their social media engagement have an impact on corporate social performance by developing a needs–affordances–consequences approach. Our approach explores the motives and ability of social CEOs, suggesting the positive influence of CEO sociability on CSR and also the moderating effect of CEOs’ social evaluation. Using data on Chinese publicly listed firms from 2009 to 2020, we find that firms with social CEOs have a higher level of social performance than firms without, and higher CEO status or better CEO reputation can further amplify the positive impact of CEO sociability on corporate social performance. This work makes important contributions to research on the determinants of CSR, as well as the social media and leadership literature.

Does corporate social performance improve environmentally adjusted efficiency? Evidence from the energy sector

AbstractThis study analyses the impact of corporate social performance (CSP), proxied by the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Index and its pillars and dimensions, on the environmentally adjusted efficiency (EAE) of 239 listed companies, over the period 2016–2021, in the global energy sector. The EAE index, estimated via data envelopment analysis (DEA), assesses the efficiency of companies by considering economic aspects alongside CO2 and energy consumption reduction targets. Our results support the hypothesis that only above a certain level of performance, do CSP practices positively influence EAE, so there is a non‐linear U‐shaped association between the overall ESG score and EAE. The same holds for the social and governance pillars, and the human rights and management subspecific dimensions, on EAE. Other ESG attributes show a positive linear relationship with EAE, namely the environmental pillar, the environmental innovation dimension and the shareholder dimension. Our paper has significant implications for companies, policy makers and researchers insofar as it estimates EAE and indicates which CSP practices should be invested in over the long term to have a positive effect on it.

Supply and demand for gender diversity in corporate leadership – the critical mass: evidence from Greece

PurposeThis study aims to examine whether a change in the regulatory requirement toward gender quota for corporate leadership significantly affects the demand and therefore, it increases the presence of women directors and women CEOs. Examining the supply-side, the study also examines whether the supply for women directors and women CEOs based on the presence of qualified women who currently hold upper, middle, or lower management positions is positively related with the presence of women directors and women CEOs. Furthermore, based on the critical mass hypothesis, this study examines whether the presence of women CEOs and critical mass for women directors bring significant impacts on firms' financial and environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) performance during the subsequent period.Design/methodology/approachUsing the multivariate regression analysis, this study empirically examines the impact of the shift in the demand for women directors and CEOs from the enactment of the Greek Law 4403/2016 on gender quota for corporate leadership. This study also examines the impact of the supply for women in corporate leadership, measured by the percentage of women who hold upper, middle, or lower management positions, on the presence of women directors and CEOs. Then, this study examines the impact of women directors and women CEOs on firms' subsequent financial and ESG performance.FindingsBased on a sample of 71 publicly listed Greek firms and 20 Cyprus listed firms as a control group during 2006–2019, the study finds evidence that both the supply-side and the demand-side bring positive effects on greater women participation in corporate boards. However, there is no evidence that the supply and demand affect the presence of women CEOs. The presence of women CEOs has a positive effect on ESG through environmental and social pillars. The study finds evidence to support the critical mass hypothesis that firms with three or more women boards tend to have higher financial and ESG performance.Social implicationsUnderstanding the supply and demand for gender diversity in corporate leadership in countries that are considered as lagging is critical to foster the global objective to level the playing field for women to participate in corporate management leadership as important part the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (UNSDG) 5.5. The positive impact of women directors on corporate financial and social performance can be achieved, especially when the critical mass is reached. This highlights the importance of greater gender representations in corporate boards and top executive level in order to make a meaningful social change.Originality/valueThis study demonstrates that the supply of women who currently hold corporate management positions has positive influence on the presence of women boards. This study also demonstrates that a national legislation that promotes gender diversity for corporate board has a positive impact on board gender diversity among Greek listed firms. This study also highlights the importance of integrating the critical mass perspective in considering the impact of supply and demand for women in corporate leadership on firms' financial and ESG performance.

Equity incentives and ESG performance: Evidence from China

Using Chinese A-share listed firms from 2006 to 2021, we investigate the impact of executive equity incentive plans (EEIPs) on corporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance. We find that EEIPs positively affect ESG performance. We also find that options have a stronger incentive effect on ESG performance than restricted stock, and longer valid period and higher vesting targets can enhance the incentive effect of EEIPs on ESG performance. Moreover, the positive impact of EEIPs on ESG performance is stronger for non-SOEs and firms with better external governance.

Assessing the Effects of Urban Digital Infrastructure on Corporate Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Performance: Evidence from the Broadband China Policy

Urban digital infrastructure is the cornerstone of optimizing resource allocation and promoting sustainable economic development in the era of digital economy, and it will also affect corporate ESG performance. Based on the data of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2011 to 2021, an asymptotic difference-in-difference model is used to investigate the impact of urban digital infrastructure on corporate ESG performance based on the “broadband China” strategy and its underlying mechanism. This paper finds that urban digital infrastructure can promote corporate ESG performance. Further, urban digital infrastructure can contribute to corporate ESG performance by increasing research and development (R&D) investment, improving corporate governance, and increasing information transparency. Through heterogeneity analysis, the results show urban digital infrastructure contributes more significantly to the ESG performance of state-owned, small and medium, growth-stage, and low-profit companies and is more pronounced in non-heavy polluting companies and companies in the central and western regions. This paper has enhanced the theoretical framework of urban digital infrastructure and corporate ESG (environmental, social, and governance) performance, paving the way for a new approach to the collaborative development of cities and enterprises in pursuit of green and sustainable growth.

The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Environmental Performance: Evidence from less developed countries

This paper aims to study the relationship between corporate social responsibility and environmental performance in Yemeni small and medium industrial enterprises. Based on a research framework, a self-questionnaire was used to collect data from a sample of 220 owners/managers of small and medium enterprises. The empirical results reveal that there is a significant positive relationship between four dimensions of corporate social responsibility (suppliers, environment, human resource management, and society) and the environmental performance of Yemeni SMEs, in contrast, there is one dimension of corporate social responsibility (investors), and its results showed no relationship with environmental performance.

Analysis of Social Responsibility and its Relationship with the Financial Performance of Companies Located in Countries with Emerging Economies

Objective: The objective of this research was to analyze the relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility and companies' financial performance, from the perspective of ESG scores. Theoretical framework: Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and social and financial performance were conceptualized. The Legitimacy Theory consolidates CSR as a social contract, established between the company and society through actions that will be evaluated by their development and the results disclosed (Guthrie & Parker, 1989). Corporate social performance (DSC) represents the way in which the company meets and responds to the demands of social content, generating collective results (Boaventura, Silva & Bandeira-de-Melo, 2012). Method: Explanatory, documentary and quantitative research with a sample composed of companies that are part of the BRICS and that made ESG scores available, from 2018 to 2022, through Thomson Reuters Eikon®. Results and conclusion: The results confirm that there is a positive and significant relationship only for market performance when analyzing the RSCENV variable (CSR Environmental). The variable RSCGOV (CSR Governance) presented a non-significant result. Research implications: The results show that the hypothesis tested that corporate social responsibility strategies have a positive relationship with financial performance was disregarded by the research data. Originality/value: This study contributes to deepening the discussion about the impact of Corporate Social Responsibility practices on the performance of organizations, specifically aiming to contribute to the analysis of the impact of different aspects of sustainability (Environmental, Social and Governance) on operational and market performance.

Mapping the link between CSR and sustainability performance through GHRM practices in hotel industry

This study investigated the mediating role between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability performance. This is the first study which has focused specifically on mediating role of green human resource management (HRM) between CSR and sustainability performance dimensions which is remained unanswered in the literature. Survey data from the 139 hotels in Pakistan was collected and SmartPLS was applied for structural equation modeling. Findings reveal that CSR is positively and significantly related with green HRM practices. In addition, green HRM practices mediate the relationship between CSR and environmental and social dimensions of sustainability performance. Contradictory to the expectation, green HRM was found insignificant mediator between CSR and economic sustainability performance. The findings demonstrate various theoretical and managerial implications. The study offers novelty by unfolding the unobserved mediating relationship of green HRM between CSR and dimensions of sustainability performance. The study also contributes to the literature of resource-based view (RBV) theory which depicts that CSR and green HRM are the intangible resources for the hotels in achieving sustainable performance and competitive advantage. The study will help the policy makers and managers by adopting theoretical framework for their cleaner production capabilities.

The power from folk monitoring: Leading Officials’ Natural Resources Accountability Audit (NRAA) and corporate ESG performance

This paper investigates the impact of China's Leading Officials' Natural Resources Accountability Audit (NRAA) on corporate Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance, using its implementation as a quasi-natural experiment. Findings highlight the NRAA's positive effect on ESG performance, primarily driven by increased folk environmental monitoring (FEM). The impact is more evident in firms with higher institutional shareholdings, lower information asymmetry, and within regions with strong legal frameworks. These results align with the NRAA policy's objective of promoting sustainable development and addressing ecological concerns through its positive role in corporate ESG performance.

Impact of Corporate Social Performance on Profitability: A Case Study of Listed Indian Companies

Purpose: This section outlines the main objective of the research and what the study aims to achieve. In this case, the purpose is to investigate the relationship between corporate social performance (CSP) and financial performance in firms listed on BSE and NSE. The purpose is to understand if there is a connection between these two aspects of business performance.
 
 Design/Methodology/Approach: This section describes the methodology and approach used to conduct the research. It mentions the data collection methods, data sources, and analysis techniques. In this case, the design/methodology/approach involves collecting seven years' mean data of corporate social responsibility (CSR) spending and three years' mean data of financial performance, followed by regression analysis to assess the relationship between CSP and financial performance.
 
 Findings: This section presents the key results and outcomes of the research. It summarizes what the data analysis and regression analysis revealed about the relationship between CSP and financial performance for the firms listed on BSE and NSE. This is where the main discoveries and insights are shared.
 
 Research, Practical & Social Implications: Here, the broader implications of the research are discussed. This includes how the findings of the study can impact future research in the field, practical applications for businesses, and the potential social consequences of the relationship between CSP and financial performance. It looks at the "So what?" aspect of the research.
 
 Originality/Value: In this section, the paper highlights the originality and value it brings to the existing body of knowledge. It discusses how the research contributes to the field and why it is important. This section emphasizes the significance of the study's findings and how they can add to the understanding of the topic.

CEO education and corporate social performance: moderation effects of CEO characteristics and firm's governance quality

PurposeThe authors examine if CEO education level and quality impacts firm's corporate social performance (CSP). Additionally, the authors investigate whether other CEO characteristics such as age, busyness, compensation and firm's governance quality moderate the relationship between CEO education and CSP.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use panel regression framework amid set of controls for their analysis. The authors additionally use two-stage least squares regression (2SLS) for robustness tests.FindingsThe authors show that CEOs with a post-graduate business degree (PGBUS) impact firm's CSP positively, whereas other educational degree directly do not influence CSP. However, CEO's age, busyness, compensation and firm's governance quality are found negatively moderating such relationship. The results survive set of robustness tests, and results are consistent the roles of upper echelons in Indian firms' strategic behaviors.Originality/valueThe results seek for an integration of more ethics and social responsibility discussions in the different education levels including undergraduate degree in India to help engender a stronger sense of moral consciousness toward firms' stakeholders as the Indian economy continues to develop.

How does digital transformation affect corporate social responsibility performance? From the dual perspective of internal drive and external governance

AbstractDigital transformation has become a wave sweeping across the globe, affecting all industries with unprecedented speed and breadth, and it is urgent to introduce digital transformation into the corporate social responsibility (CSR) field. This study aims to investigate the impact of digital transformation on CSR performance and its influencing mechanism. The findings are as follows: (1) digital transformation can improve CSR performance; (2) from the dual perspective of internal drive and external governance, we figure out that digital transformation improves CSR performance by improving green management innovation and analyst coverage; (3) further analysis shows that the impact of digital transformation on CSR performance differs under different resource endowments and institutional environments (i.e., formal and informal institutions). Specifically, this promoting effect is only reflected incorporates more resources (i.e., human resources, cultural resources, employment resources, and economic resources), with strong environmental enforcement or high media attention. In the context of digital transformation, this study enriches the mechanism of improving CSR performance and is of great practical significance for corporates, markets, governments and other stakeholders. Meanwhile, the findings of this study are of practical guidance for promoting corporates to fulfill their social responsibility and achieve sustainable development goals in the digital era.

Going beyond the role: How employees' perception of corporate social responsibility fuels proactive customer service performance

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and employees' proactive performance are essential in the hospitality industry, given their positive impact on corporate performance. However, little focus has been given to the influence of CSR on employees' proactive performance. This study utilizes the social information processing theory and proactive motivation model to examine the impact of employees' perceived CSR on their proactive customer service performance. We also investigate the employees' motivational states as mediators, including employees' organization-based self-esteem, felt obligation, and experienced meaningfulness. Empirical evidence is from 438 frontline employees in boutique hotels in China. Results indicate that employees' perceived CSR significantly influences their proactive customer service performance. Specifically, felt obligation and experienced meaningfulness play the mediating roles between employees' perceived CSR and their proactive customer service performance, while organization-based self-esteem does not. This study contributes to the growing body of literature on CSR and employee proactivity, offering practical implications for managers and policymakers who aim to improve employee performance through CSR programs.

Exploring the role of board-level corporate social responsibility committees in corporate social responsibility performance: A configurational approach

Board attributes interrelate with one another and the environment in which they are embedded in forming corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance, resulting in configurations of board attributes. By embracing a configurational approach, this study aims to investigate how the CSR-committee as a board structure interacts within different configurations of director characteristics (female-directors, director’s age, tenure, and experience) and other board structures (non-executive directors, CEO-duality, board-size) in shaping CSR-performance. The results of a fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) of 789 FTSE350 and S&P500 listed companies during a 4-year period (2013–2016) reveals nine board configurations leading to high CSR-performance, six containing the CSR-committee. Three board archetypes were identified. Their formation is shaped on main differences seen amongst them, leading to distinct archetypes: committee-boards, experience-boards, and hybrid-boards. The result of the configurational approach agrees with the argument “one-size” does not fit all, and different boards can achieve the same results via unique configurations.

Green human resource management: A comprehensive investigation using bibliometric analysis

AbstractThis study reviews green human resource management (GHRM) via bibliometric analysis of extant literature in the field of business and management. We used bibliometric, R Studio program for descriptive analysis and network analysis, to analyze 595 documents from the Web of Science and Scopus data. The study aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the evolution of GHRM and the structures that define it. This article discusses the emerging keywords and research area along with the growth patterns in the area of GHRM during 2002–2022. The findings suggest that publication on GHRM began over 25 years ago and has continued to grow since then. The number of publications in this field of study has doubled over the last 10 years. Emerging themes include Green human resource practices, corporate social responsibility (CSR), innovation, environmental performance, circular economy, and sustainable development. Potential research areas have been suggested by drawing a complete picture of the conceptual framework. The study will help policy‐makers, corporates and academicians unravel the practical and theoretical aspects of GHRM and identify pertinent issues that require attention.

Research on the impact of environment, social and governance performance on corporate valuation: Evidence from China

AbstractWith the greater popularity and recognition of the environment, social, and governance concept, it has increasingly become the focus of investors and enterprises in corporate valuation, capital allocation, strategic planning, and investment decision‐making. The environment, social, and governance framework covers many factors that affect a company's long‐term financial performance and sustainable development, so the environment, social, and governance characteristics of the company will reflect the long‐term value it can create in the future. Previous studies have rarely confirmed a strong positive correlation between corporate environment, social and governance performance, and valuation, and even if confirmed, they have not explained how environment, social, and governance performance affect valuation. Therefore, the originality of this paper lies in explaining how environment, social, and governance affect valuation, as well as discovering which factors in environment, social, and governance affect valuation, and which characteristics of the company will strengthen or weaken this impact. This paper uses a two‐way fixed effect model to study the impact of environment, social, and governance performance on the valuation of listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen A‐share markets from 2014 to 2021. Research findings: Enterprise environment, social, and governance performance can significantly improve its valuation, and the impact of environmental and social performance is more significant. Mediating effect test found that enterprise environment, social, and governance performance improves enterprise valuation by reducing the cost of capital, increasing investor attention, and reducing corporate financial risk. The moderating effect found that compared to state‐owned enterprises, the valuation of non‐state enterprises is highly influenced by environment, social, and governance performance, and corporate information transparency can also promote the transformation of environment, social, and governance performance to valuation. After a series of robustness and endogeneity tests, the results can still support the conclusions of this article. The contribution of this study is to provide empirical evidence for the positive economic consequences of environment, social, and governance performance, which has certain implications for enterprises and investors to attach importance to environment, social, and governance performance, and for government departments to improve environment, social and governance incentive policies. Due to the limitations of selecting only A‐share listed companies for the sample, further research is needed on the applicability of the conclusions of this article to other countries or small and medium‐sized enterprises. In future research, we need to continue to investigate whether there are any other influencing mechanisms that have not been discovered by us.

Corporate Social-Environmental Reporting and Firm Performance of Listed Firms in Nigeria

Financial performance and reporting of company social and environmental expenses were examined. Researchers and businesses throughout the world are increasingly interested in understanding the effect of corporate social and environmental spending on bottom line results. The analysis relied on information from the listed companies' financial statements from 2010 to 2019. Linear regression was used for the analysis in this study. Based on the statistics presented, it appears that CSR reports have a negative effect on the ROI that was originally targeted. Corporate social environmental spending reporting also has a detrimental effect on the mandated return on assets and earnings per share. According to the findings, Nigerian investors are less interested in firms that use their profits to benefit society than they are in those that generate a high return on investment and perhaps offer a sizable dividend. More education and awareness on the topic of corporate social and environmental performance of the firms was recommended in the study rather than focusing on the shareholder group that is more inclined towards the profit motive of the firm. This is because it could change the perspectives of investors to place a high value on firms that consider the needs of all stakeholders, especially the society and environment where they operate.

TOWARD THE END OF THE CORPORATE SOCIAL PERFORMANCE – CORPORATE FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE DEBATE

The purpose of this document is to present the way forward to finalize the debate related to the link between Corporate Social Performance – Corporate Financial Performance. The discussion and proposal of 7 elements were developed that allow proposing a new methodological path for the development of empirical investigations that seek to explain the link between the Corporate Social Performance – Corporate Financial Performance. After the theoretical review, it was found that the most relevant changes were associated with the level of maturity of the Corporate Social Performance, micro-foundations approach, mediating variables, structural equation models, primary sources, and delimitation of the short, medium, and long term on the analysis.

Knowledge-Based Faultlines and Corporate Social Irresponsibility: Evidence from Chinese High-Polluting Companies

Government requests and societal expectations have pressured high-polluting companies to focus on corporate social responsibility strategies. Using the upper echelons theory as a theoretical framework, we investigated how top management team (TMT) faultlines influence corporate social performance (CSP) based on data from 212 high-polluting companies. The results showed that CSP can be improved by reducing corporate social irresponsibility (CSiR), knowledge-based faultlines have a U-shaped effect on CSiR, and there is a knowledge-based faultline critical point. This implies that knowledge-based faultlines can improve CSiR before reaching this critical point. Additionally, medium-strength knowledge-based faultlines are more conducive to improving irresponsible behavior. CEO power plays a significant moderating role in the relationship between TMT faultlines and CSiR and slows the U-shaped effect of knowledge-based faultlines on CSiR. These findings could help enterprises optimize team structures, adjust corporate social responsibility strategies, and maintain sustainable development in high-polluting sectors.

The Sectoral and Regional Peer Influences on Heavy-Pollution Corporate Environmental, Social, and Governance Performance

The conception of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance has been widely implemented and has become an important indicator of firms’ eco-friendly transformation in heavy-pollution industries. The sectoral and regional peer influences of corporate ESG performance can effectively promote firms’ green sustainable development within an entire industry, district, and market. In this study, our main hypothesis is that corporate ESG performance has a significantly positive peer effect among heavy-pollution industry firms within the same province, industry, and product market. Therefore, by employing novel spatial econometric techniques, we investigate the peer effect of corporate ESG performance among 681 of China’s A-share listed firms within 20 heavy-pollution industries from 2012 to 2021 and explore the impacts from peer indirect effect views, such as public media attention, regulatory pressure, and green innovation. Further, we detect the sectoral and regional peer pulling and dragging effects under the two statuses of firms’ ESG rating changes. The main findings are as follows. First, corporate ESG performance has a significantly positive peer effect, which is the highest among firms within the same industry. Second, the mechanism analysis presents that the increase in other firms’ negative web news, environment-related penalties, and green patents has different peer indirect effects on corporate ESG performance within the same province, industry, and product market. Third, corporate ESG performance has a significantly positive peer-pulling effect among firms when other firms’ ESG levels increase, yet a significantly positive peer-dragging effect only within the same region and industry when other firms’ ESG levels decrease. This study gives empirical contributions that firms can take advantage of the positive peer effect of corporate ESG performance to improve their own ESG practice level and employ it as a competitive strategy for pursuing long-term value, and governments should maintain sustainable supervision measures and an orderly competitive market environment to cultivate a consensus on corporate ESG development in heavy-pollution industries.