View Of Corporate Social Responsibility Research Articles

Exploring how independent directors view CSR inequality using a quasi-natural experiment

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore corporate social responsibility (CSR) inequality, which is the inequality across different CSR categories. Higher inequality suggests a less balanced CSR policy. To determine if CSR inequality is beneficial or harmful, this paper investigates how independent directors view CSR inequality, using an exogenous regulatory shock introduced by the passage of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act.Design/methodology/approachTo draw causality, this study relies on a quasi-natural experiment based on an exogenous regulatory shock that forced certain firms to raise board independence. This approach is significantly less vulnerable to endogeneity and is much more likely to show a causal effect. The results using propensity score matching, principal component analysis and instrumental-variable analysis are confirmed.FindingsThe difference-in-difference estimates show that independent directors view CSR inequality unfavorably. Specifically, board independence diminishes CSR inequality by approximately 34%-43%. Because the empirical strategy is based on a quasi-natural experiment, the results are more likely to show causality. The results also imply that CSR inequality is a crucially important aspect of CSR.Originality/valueAlthough a substantial volume of research has examined CSR, one vital aspect of CSR has been largely unexplored. Filling this void in the literature, the CSR inequality is investigated. The study is the first to explore how independent directors view CSR inequality using a quasi-natural experiment.

How do independent directors view corporate social responsibility (CSR)? Evidence from a quasi‐natural experiment

AbstractWe investigate how independent directors view corporate social responsibility (CSR). Exploiting the passage of the Sarbanes‐Oxley (SOX) Act and the associated exchange listing requirements as an exogenous regulatory shock, we document that independent directors view CSR activities unfavorably. In particular, firms forced to raise board independence reduce CSR engagement significantly relative to those not required to increase board independence. Our results are consistent with the risk‐mitigation view and the agency cost hypothesis where managers over‐invest in CSR to mitigate their own exposure to nonsystematic risk. The over‐investments in CSR are curbed in the presence of a stronger, more independent, board of directors. Several robustness checks confirm the results, including fixed‐effects and random‐effects regressions, dynamic panel data analysis, instrumental‐variable analysis, propensity score matching, Lewbel's heteroscedastic identification, and Oster's method for coefficient stability. We also confirm the risk‐mitigation hypothesis by showing that CSR activities reduce firm risk significantly. Our research design is much less vulnerable to endogeneity and is therefore likely to show a causal effect of board independence on CSR.

When Benefits are Lost: Contextualizing CSR, Marketing Capability, and Firm Performance in China

Prior research tends to view corporate social responsibility (CSR) as beneficial to firm performance, building on the premises that the public holds strong demand for CSR and that CSR actions are the strategic choices made by firms. However, such a view overlooks the conditions in which these two premises no longer hold. Challenging prior views, we propose that when institutional environments question these premises, CSR may lose its benefits and become a liability for firm performance. Based on analyses of data on listed firms for the period running between 2008 and 2017 in China, we show that CSR negatively affects performance by reducing firms’ marketing capability, and such negative effect is weaker in regions with higher density of Buddhist beliefs but is stronger when government influence is more difficult to avoid. These findings carry strong implications for broadening our theoretical understanding of CSR research.

Do Higher-Rated or Enhancing ESG of Firms Enhance Their Long–Term Sustainability? Evidence from Market Returns in Korea

In this study, we investigate the effects of the level and changes in environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) rating, an index developed to represent a firm’s long-term sustainability, on the stock market returns of Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) listed firms over the period 2011–2018. We find that the changes in ESG ratings have statistically significant short-term effects on their abnormal returns. However, their impacts on short-term abnormal returns decrease some days after the disclosure and become negative in the third year. The results imply that investors in the Korean stock market do not view corporate social responsibility activities as a means of supporting their long-term sustainability, judging from the firm value for a long period after their rating. Rather, based on the effects of the changes on coefficient signs over the period—positive in the year and the year after, no effects in the following year, and negative in the third year and later—we can infer that the short-term oriented market sentiments of investors might worsen their long-term stock performances, thus deteriorating their sustainability and growth opportunities.

Authenticity as a corporate social responsibility platform for building customer loyalty

Consumers’ views of corporate social responsibility (CSR) are still filled with mistrust and doubt. Especially in developing countries like Indonesia, consumers are wondering about the motivation b...

The Dao of CSR

Abstract Widespread corporate scandals involving corruption, environmental pollution, IP theft and food/product safety demonstrate that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has not yet taken root among Chinese business firms. One major reason is that Chinese managers view CSR as a foreign concept, an externally imposed set of rules, that fails to resonate with their internal worldview. This paper proposes a new approach to CSR based on ‘vital energy’ (qi) circulating within an organically integrated moral cosmos (dao)—a traditional Chinese ecological worldview that overcomes cultural barriers to acceptance, while simultaneously drawing on insights from contemporary behavioural economics and materials science. The paper provides Chinese conceptual tools to transform an externally imposed burden on business firms into an internally generated, ecologically situated, creative and productive corporate evolution.

Corporate social responsibility and financial performance: The roles of government intervention and market competition

AbstractIncorporating instrumental and political views of corporate social responsibility (CSR), this study examines the relationship between CSR and corporate financial performance in China's unique institutional context, which is featured by the coexistence of a strong government and a transitional market economy. Our results show that (a) CSR positively affects financial performance, (b) state ownership weakens the relationship between CSR and financial performance, and (c) industry competition strengthens the relationship between CSR and financial performance for both state‐owned and non‐state‐owned firms. This study reveals that, although both an instrumental view and a political view of CSR are applicable in China, the motivation to create economic benefits for firms dominates, and market competition increases the strategic use of CSR.

Corporate social responsibility and provision of trade credit

In this article, we identify and examine three different views of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the relationship between CSR and firms’ provision of trade credit. The trust view of CSR argues that CSR and trade credit provision are related positively, because CSR, as a trust-enhancing device, complements the incomplete contract nature of trade credit. The CSR literature shows that CSR firms tend to have higher cash holdings. With this in mind, the precautionary motive view of CSR suggests that cash holdings serve as a hedge against trade credit risk, while, on the other hand, the substitution view of CSR predicts that cash hoarding discourages the provision of trade credit. Using a dataset of 20,591 firm-year observations from 1991 to 2015, we find strong evidence that supports both the trust and substitution views of CSR but not the precautionary view of CSR.

A Leasehold Approach to Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) connects organizations with various environments and constituencies. CSR is enacted through governance and strategic processes, yet this can cause distortions as the process conforms to an agency theory narrative. This paper analyzes the role agency plays in CSR and offers an alternative (the leasehold approach) that uniquely describes the relationships among owners, organizational leadership, and contemporary management practices. An alternative to the existing paradigm is explored by 1) acknowledging the robust role of leaders in determining vision, strategy and CSR, 2) recognizing that governance balances obligations to multiple parties to whom leaders have committed, 3) allowing that those commitments determine the organization’s accountabilities necessary to demonstrate promised performance, 4) focusing on value creation more than distribution of surplus, and 5) highlighting that financial and social outcomes are equally legitimate. Implications for theory/practice are offered; leasehold indeed offers an open, autonomous, and accountable way to view corporate governance and CSR.

Environmental uncertainty and corporate social responsibility

This study examines the impact of environmental uncertainty on corporate social responsibility (CSR). Using a 23-year panel sample with 3,053 unique US firms and 23,742 firm-year observations, we test the ethics view and risk management view of corporate social responsibility. We find a significant and negative relationship between environmental uncertainty and corporate social responsibility, suggesting that firms are less likely to engage in corporate social responsibility activities when faced with an uncertain environment. Our results support the ethics view of corporate social responsibility. These insights should interest policymakers who implement guidelines on CSR and firms that are considering adjusting their CSR levels. Our results should also provide practitioners with useful insights regarding which specific determinants are associated with a company's level of CSR activities, and interest firms that attempt to incorporate CSR in their business systems.

CSR and financial performance: Evidence from Pakistani Banks

This research intends to explore the relation between the practices of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and the financial performance of Bank, s using the measures of ROA and ROE. This research would help to improve the knowledge of managerial practices. The current study used Pakistan's banking industry as the empirical setting. The methodology of the study was based on the creation of a 34-item scale CSR Disclosure Index, to measure CSR and then regression results were applied to the models. The study concluded that all Banks in Pakistan view CSR practices as a strategic activity and they are included in the annual reports of banks. Also, public banks in Pakistan executed more CSR activities than private banks. Though there was strong positive association between CSR and ROA, there was only moderate positive association between CSR and ROE. Overall, Banks that implemented CSR practices tended to increase their profitability.

Importance-performance ratings of corporate social responsibility practices by employees in Macao’s gaming industry

PurposeEmployees play a significant role in implementing corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices. This paper aims to examine the perceived importance of CSR practices and identifies improvement areas of CSR practices using the importance-performance analysis from Macao’s casino employees’ perspective.Design/methodology/approachBased on a literature review of CSR in the hospitality industry and ISO 26000, a comprehensive set of CSR practices including responsible gaming practices was identified. Data were collected from 298 casino employees. Importance-performance analysis as well as exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis were used to identify important CSR practices and the factor structure of CSR in Macao’s gaming industry.FindingsEmployees rated “providing good wages and health insurance” as the most important practice, followed by “creating a health and safe working environment” and “be fair and honest with employees.” The importance-performance analysis shows that employees perceived their firms performing well in “providing good wages and health insurance,” “protecting consumer data and consumer privacy” and “providing good consumer service and support.” The results of confirmatory factor analysis indicate that CSR in Macao’s gaming industry encompasses seven factors, namely, “Labor Practices,” “The Environment,” “Fair Operating Practices,” “Consumer Issues,” “Human Rights,” “Community Involvement” and “Responsible Gaming”.Originality/valueCasino employees shape customer experience, recognizing and understanding how employees view CSR practices can help casino operators refine their CSR initiatives.

Profit Maximization Versus Stakeholders’ View of Corporate Social Responsibility: An Experiential Exercise on Ethics and Social Responsibility for Business School Courses

While issues related to ethics and social responsibility have gained tremendous significance in corporate and academic worlds during the recent times, these concepts are difficult to grasp and even more difficult to teach in a classroom setting. This experiential exercise serves as a vehicle for students to enhance their understanding and insights on these concepts as they critically examine, in a highly involved setting, the two opposing views of corporate social responsibilities--profit maximization only versus stakeholders’ view of social responsibility.

Do Female Executives Prioritize Corporate Social Responsibility?

ABSTRACTHow do female executives view corporate social responsibility (CSR)? Previous studies have reported mixed findings on the relationship between female executives and CSR. We select a sample of Chinese listed firms and use propensity score matching to construct a new sample of firms and evaluate the gender transition (from male to female) of chief executive officers or board chairpersons (executives) who are randomly assigned to firms (i.e., the gender transition of executives is regarded as an exogenous event). Subsequently, we use a difference-in-differences approach to identify the pure effect of female executives on CSR. Our results indicate that female executives are more likely to encourage CSR reporting. Moreover, we suggest that the mechanism behind female executives prioritizing CSR is altruism preference rather than risk aversion preference.

Self-Reporting CSR Activities: When Your Company Harms, Do You Self-Disclose?

Companies increasingly view corporate social responsibility (CSR) as an important dimension of corporate reputation. This is at least partly motivated by the understanding that a strong CSR reputation can enhance profits. This research examines how self-reporting of CSR activities links to corporations’ CSR reputation. Broadly, a company can opt to (a) voluntarily embrace self-reporting and describe its CSR policies and performance to stakeholders or (b) stay silent in this regard. We find a positive link between CSR self-reporting and a company’s social responsibility reputation and, more interestingly, show that companies are more apt to report this information when (a) their activities have a greater adverse environment impact and (b) have policies that are evaluated favorably by a third party. CSR self-reporting mediates the effects of third-party evaluations and improves the CSR reputation of companies. Moreover, consistent with prior research, we show that improvements in CSR reputation enhance profits.

Effect of corporate social responsibility on corporate tax avoidance: evidence from a matching approach

The literature provides various theories relating to the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and tax avoidance. If firms view both CSR activities and tax payments as paths toward contributing to society, CSR and tax avoidance activities exhibit a negative relationship. Conversely, the two activities exhibit a positive relationship if firms engage in CSR for the purpose of risk management. This study examines the effect of CSR on corporate tax avoidance using a matching approach. Three matching algorithms, namely nearest neighbor, radius, and kernel algorithms, are used to match the two groups of firms (CSR and non-CSR firms) in order to correct for sample selection bias. This study adopts Chinese listed firms during 2009–2016 as a research sample. Most empirical results show that CSR firms have higher book-tax differences and lower effective tax rates. This indicates that CSR firms are more aggressive in their tax avoidance. These findings imply that firms engage in CSR activities as a risk management strategy.

Which CSR Activities Are More Consequential? Evidence From the Great Recession

We exploit the Great Recession of 2008 to study how firms view corporate social responsibility (CSR). When confronted with an adverse exogenous shock, firms are forced to prioritize. Our results show that, during the Great Recession, firms do not lessen their overall CSR investments, suggesting that they recognize the importance of CSR. However, further analysis shows that firms substantially reduce investments in five CSR activities (Community, Employee, Environment, Human Rights, and Product), while increasing investments in two CSR activities (Corporate Governance and Diversity). Firms appear to view some CSR activities as more essential to the strategic direction of the firm than others.

Which CSR activities are more consequential? Evidence from the Great Recession

We exploit the Great Recession of 2008 to study how firms view corporate social responsibility (CSR). When confronted with an adverse exogenous shock, firms are forced to prioritize. Our results show that, during the Great Recession, firms do not lessen their overall CSR investments, suggesting that they recognize the importance of CSR. However, further analysis shows that firms substantially reduce investments in five CSR activities (Community, Employee, Environment, Human Rights, and Product), while increasing investments in two CSR activities (Corporate Governance and Diversity). Firms appear to view some CSR activities as more essential to the strategic direction of the firm than others. Firms appear to view some CSR activities as more essential to the strategic direction of the firm than others.

Mapeamento de questões afirmativas de gênero: um estudo documental do setor empresarial em diferentes setores produtivos

The present study aimed to map the application of affirmative gender policies in the formation of new corporate values. The study discussed women's history of struggle over the years, the main points of the feminist movement and its claims, the achievement of the rights of women and trade union movements, and their interaction with the social clauses of collective bargaining. The research carried out had a qualitative and exploratory approach. The method consisted in the analysis of content using bibliographical and documentary research carried out through consultations of the technical reports of companies and public and private institutions. The research used data available to the public of organizations from four productive sectors: extractive, financial, consumer goods and services. The selection resulted in a sample of 06 companies with a temporal cut from 2014 to 2016. The analysis consisted of the mapping of affirmative gender policies for the formation of new corporate values from the point of view of Corporate Social Responsibility and its interaction with stakeholders through participation of the companies in the Gender Equality and Race Program, the commitment made between the organizations with the Global Pact and the principles of women's empowerment of ONU Women. The main conclusion of the study was that the voluntary participation of companies in the PPEGR and Global Pact encourages the sharing of good practice and affirmative action results for the entire business community. As a result, this work contributes to the construction of participatory dialogue that contributes to the transformation of organizational culture and to the formation of new corporate values, favoring female empowerment in job market.

Teaching Corporate Social Responsibility In An MBA Program

This paper discusses the topic of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and proposes that CSR should be taught in an MBA program and, more specifically, in a Managerial Accounting course of an MBA program. CSR aligns strongly with other managerial accounting topics typically taught in an MBA Program such as the balanced scorecard and triple-bottom line reporting. In putting forward this suggestion, this paper proposes a definition of CSR, reviews recent literature relating to CSR, and provides several strategies for teaching and assessing students’ understanding and appreciation of CSR. In the results section of the paper, a content analysis of student essays provides an insight into how students view CSR. The paper concludes with an overview of what is attainable by teaching CSR in a Managerial Accounting MBA course.