scholarly journals What does corporate social advocacy signal? Evidence from boycott participation decisions

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pyemo N. Afego ◽  
Imhotep P. Alagidede
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Stock Market ◽  
Event Study ◽  
Market Valuation ◽  
Social Advocacy ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Stock Market Valuation ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThis paper explores how a firm's public stand on a social-political issue can be a salient signal of the firm's values, identity and reputation. In particular, it investigates how boycott participation–conceptualized as a cue of a corporation's stand on important social-political issues–may affect the stock market valuation of that corporation, as well as how corporations legitimise their stand on the issues.Design/methodology/approachThe authors employ a mixed-methods design that uses both qualitative techniques (content analysis) and quantitative methods (event study methodology) to examine a sample of US firms who participated in a boycott campaign that sought to call attention to issues of hate speech, misinformation and discriminatory content on social media platform Facebook.FindingsFindings from the qualitative content analysis of company statements show that firms legitimise their stand on, and participation in, the boycott by expressing altruistic values and suggesting to stakeholders that their stand aligns not only with organizational values/convictions but also with the greater social good. Importantly, the event study results show that firms who publicly announced their intention to participate in the boycott, on average, earn a statistically significant positive abnormal stock return of 2.68% in the four days immediately after their announcements.Research limitations/implicationsFindings relate to a specific case of a boycott campaign. Also, the sample size is limited and restricted to US stocks. The signalling value of corporate social advocacy actions may vary across countries due to institutional and cultural differences. Market reaction may also be different for issues that are more charged than the ones examined in this study. Therefore, future research might investigate other markets, use larger sample sizes and consider a broader range of social-political issues.Practical implicationsThe presence of significant stock price changes for firms that publicly announced their decision to side with activists on the issue of hate propaganda and misinformation offers potentially valuable insights on the timing of trades for investors and arbitrageurs. Insights from the study also provide a practical resource that can be used to inform organizations' decision-making about such issues.Social implicationsTaking the lead to push on social-political issues, such as hate propaganda, discrimination, among others, and communicating their stands in a way that speaks to their values and identity, could be rewarding for companies.Originality/valueThis study provides novel evidence on the impact that corporate stances on important social-political issues can have on stock market valuation of firms and therefore extends the existing related research which until now has focused on the impact on consumer purchasing intent and brand loyalty.

scholarly journals The impact of liquidity on the valuation of European real estate securities

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Moss ◽  
Nicole Lux
Keyword(s):  
Real Estate ◽  
Stock Market ◽  
Equity Capital ◽  
Market Valuation ◽  
Liquidity Premium ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Stock Market Valuation ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Real Estate Securities ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to test the hypothesis that the valuations of European real estate securities are, in part, determined by the relative liquidity in the companies’ shares. Design/methodology/approach – Six groups are derived for our sample of European listed real estate companies. They are split between the UK and Europe, and then both sets are categorised by liquidity as large, medium or small. These are then tested for market depth, market tightness and difference in valuations over the cycle 2002-2012. Intuitively, it can be expected that the stock market valuation premium for companies with greater liquidity increases post the global financial crisis. Findings – The key discriminating variable that drives companies’ liquidity and valuations is market capitalisation. For both the UK and Europe, the valuation premium of larger companies vs small companies has increased significantly since 2008 (by 20-40 per cent), which can be attributed to the increased value placed on liquidity post GFC. Research limitations/implications – The sample size is relatively small, and subject to individual company influences on stock market valuation. Practical implications – The key implications from the findings are the cost and quantum of new equity capital available to companies with superior liquidity, and the possibility of exclusion from portfolios for companies with low liquidity. Originality/value – Previous studies have focussed on returns for measuring a liquidity premium. This study focusses on relative valuations and how the liquidity premium changes throughout the cycle.

The financial impact of retail store closure announcements

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (6) ◽  
pp. 536-556 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaideep Chowdhury ◽  
Sourish Sarkar
Keyword(s):  
Stock Market ◽  
Stock Returns ◽  
Event Study ◽  
Retail Store ◽  
Financial Impact ◽  
Sales Growth ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Abnormal Stock Returns ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Closure Decisions

Purpose While store closure announcements frequently appear in newspapers, little is known about the financial impact of store closure decisions on the retailer’s market value. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the stock market reaction to the announcements of retail store closure decisions. Design/methodology/approach The authors collect data from news articles on store closure announcements in the USA during 1995-2016. Using the four-factor model in an event study, the authors compute the abnormal stock returns for the retail firms due to these announcements. Findings Based on the authors’ analysis for sample and matching control firms, the abnormal stock returns for store closure announcements are found to be positive overall. The authors find evidence that the positive effects of the announcements are stronger, particularly for the firms which have positive sales growth at the time of the announcements. The authors also report that industry competition acts as a negative moderator in the relationship between announcements and financial impacts. Practical implications The authors’ analysis implies the investors’ positive sentiment of store closure announcements as a viable cost-cutting strategy, especially when it is done proactively by better performing retailers. The findings should be useful to the supply chain managers of retail industries in making store closure decisions. Originality/value This paper is believed to be the first to address the impact of retail store closure announcements on the stock market. The authors’ approach of categorizing the firms based on their sales growth seems to be the first in the event study literature on corporate restructuring.

scholarly journals Earnings management and corporate social responsibility: UK evidence

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 311-332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yousf Almahrog ◽  
Zakaria Ali Aribi ◽  
Thankom Arun
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Earnings Management ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Csr Disclosure ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The paper aims to re-interpret the role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in limiting the extreme practices in earnings management (EM) by using evidence from large UK companies. Design/methodology/approach The study has used content analysis and disclosure index to measure the level of CSR. The authors measured EM based on discretionary accruals by using cross-sectional version of the modified Jones model. Findings The findings of this study reveal that companies with a higher commitment to CSR activities are less likely to manage earnings through accruals. Originality/value This study shed more light on the potential impact of CSR on earnings management in the context of the UK. Prior research on the impact of CSR on earnings management has used exclusively CSR scores, provided by CSR score indices. The manual measurement used in this study for CSR (disclosure index/content analysis) is considered to provide a more detailed and precise measure.

Does the stock market curse contractor’s bidding decision and winning a new contract?

2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (6) ◽  
pp. 1268-1286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jongsoo Choi
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Stock Market ◽  
Event Study ◽  
Abnormal Returns ◽  
The Body ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Market Responses ◽  
Window Period ◽  
Project Location ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the stock market reactions at the time of new construction contract winning announcements to explore whether the managements made wise bidding decisions and thus create values. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 813 new contracts awarded to publicly traded US construction firms for the years 2000 through 2009 are screened and these are analyzed by applying event study methodology. This paper estimates the effect of an event on stock market’s responses, using cumulative abnormal returns (CARs), and the CAR values are estimated for four types of windows: days 0 (i.e. the day of the event announcement), (−1, +1), (−2, +2), and (−3, +3). The market responses are further subdivided according to such variables as the project type, owner type, project location, work scope, and bidder size. Findings – The results of this study show that the stock market did not curse contract winners by positively responding to the announcements of new contract awards. The sample firms’ market value, on average, is increased by 1.168 percent during the seven-day window period, and is highly significant. In addition, the followings are observed: first, the stock market tends to favor larger contracts over smaller ones; second, small firms’ events receive better market responses than those of large ones; and third, the level of returns varies considerably across the project types. Meanwhile, no statistical differences are observed in CARs for the owner type, work scope, and project location variables. Research limitations/implications – This study has several limitations. First, potential factors that may have effects on CAR could not be incorporated in the analysis, because a contract award announcement provides only limited information. Second, the level of consistency between stock market responses and the contract’s actual outcomes could not be assessed. Practical implications – Wise bidding decision has critical implication considering the impact of a new contract award on a firm; a new contract increases the backlog of a firm while it may harm/improve the operating performance or decrease/increase the stockholders’ wealth. Although the overall success level of the current sample, in terms of CARs, is positive and significant, CAR values vary significantly depending on the window period and/or variables. Therefore, managements should exercise careful discretion in selecting a target project and arriving at a bidding decision. Originality/value – While event study has been widespread for assessing the effect of numerous event types, project award received scarcely any attention. Moreover, it has widely been believed that cost/pricing and contract value are the primary sources for winners’ curse argument. Accordingly, this study can be considered as a seminal work assessing stock market responses to validate winners’ curse argument. This study contributes to the body of knowledge of decision-making discipline. In addition, from a strategic management perspective, the evidence and implications drawn from the analysis results will be valuable resources for bid or no-bid decision making in the project-based industry.

Political instability and corporate social responsibility: the case of Egypt

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 745-767 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dina El-Bassiouny ◽  
Peter Letmathe
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Stock Market ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Financial Performance ◽  
Political Instability ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Market Uncertainty ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This paper aims to examine the impact of political uncertainty and instability caused by the 2011 Egyptian revolution on the corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices of Egyptian firms. The study provides empirical evidence to support the link between political instability, financial performance, stock market uncertainty and CSR in the post-revolution context of Egypt. Design/methodology/approach Data on CSR practices in Egypt were collected through a survey of Egyptian firms and content analysis of annual reports from publicly traded firms. The final survey sample consisted of 99 listed Egyptian companies. Structural equation modeling was performed to examine the relationship between the variables of this study. Findings The results of the study show that political instability is perceived to have a significant positive effect on the CSR practices of Egyptian firms. The results also reveal that the financial performance of firms is perceived not to be affected by the political instability after the 2011 Revolution as opposed to stock market uncertainty, which is perceived to be significantly affected. However, financial performance and stock market uncertainty have a significant positive influence on the CSR practices of Egyptian firms. Originality/value This paper capitalizes institutional theory to capture the complex interactions between organizations and their external institutional environments. Previous studies tackling CSR in unstable political environments in the African context focused on countries with prolonged periods of violent conflict and on more localized forms of conflicts. Yet, little is known about CSR during the occurrence of different types of political instabilities in other African countries.

The effect of corporate social responsibility content on consumer engagement behaviours on Facebook brand pages in Egypt

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 280-297
Author(s):  
Hazem Rasheed Gaber ◽  
Ahmed Elsamadicy
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Consumer Engagement ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
Facebook Pages ◽  
The Impact

The purpose of this paper is to study how companies communicate their corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices on their Facebook pages, and it also investigates the impact of this content type on consumer engagement behaviours. Based on content analysis of the biggest twenty corporate Facebook pages in Egypt, it was found that these companies focus on non-CSR posts more than CSR posts. However, the findings showed that the CSR posts received the highest number of likes, comments and shares if compared to other content types. This article provides social media managers with some guidelines for effective posting strategies when adopting Facebook marketing. Specifically, it recommends that corporations use this social network to communicate CSR practices to consumers. Since the adoption of Facebook in CSR activities by many corporations is a relatively new practice, this article provides practitioners with some guidelines to follow.

The angel-halo effect

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 709-722 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kent Walker ◽  
Zhou Zhang ◽  
Bing Yu
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Halo Effect ◽  
Market Valuation ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Positive Effect ◽  
Combined Data

Purpose This paper aims to examine how increases in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate social irresponsibility (CSiR) relate to firm performance. Further, this paper investigates how increases in CSR (CSiR) while CSiR (CSR) is present relate to three measures of firm performance: profitability, management efficiency and market valuation. Design/methodology/approach Using over 10,000 observations from 2009-2013 and combined data from Sustainalytics and Compustat, this paper examines how increases in either CSR or CSiR relate to firm performance. Findings The paper finds that increased CSR significantly relates to increased firm performance in all three measures, and that increased CSiR significantly relates to decreased profitability only. Furthermore, increased CSR when CSiR is present relates to increased efficiency and market valuation. Finally, increased CSiR when CSR is present relates to increased profitability and efficiency. The results suggest that CSR dominates the relationship to firm performance, as it was positively related to all three measures of firm performance, and when CSR and CSiR exist simultaneously, CSR has a dominant positive effect. Research limitations/implications The study sample consists of US firms only from 2009-2013, thus the generalizability of the results to other countries and periods is unknown. Practical implications The results demonstrating differing effects based on the measure of firm performance suggest that managers should be specific with which measures are used to gauge the impact of CSR and CSiR. In addition, managers would be wise to invest in CSR, as the results suggest that they can improve profitability, efficiency and market value. Even further, the empirically identified angel-halo effect suggests that investments in CSR may counter any potential negative effects from CSiR. Finally, the latter results suggest that firms can “get away” with some degree of CSiR when CSR is present. Originality/value By examining changing levels of CSR and CSiR independently and conjunctly across various measures of firm performance, this paper found a dominating role for CSR, which is labeled as the angel-halo effect.

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