Corporate social responsibility: what motivates management to disclose?

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 513-534 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tay Chia Ling ◽  
Nigar Sultana
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Stock Price ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Statistical Technique ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Least Squares Regression ◽  
Technical Trading ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Corporate Social

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical evidence on the significance of signal breaches from technical trading indicators in explaining variations in the level of corporate social responsibility disclosures (CSRD) by firms. The authors seek to determine whether firms disclose corporate social responsibility (CSR) information in a genuine attempt to report their impact on society and environment or whether firms use CSRD as a shield to legitimise their business operations. Design/methodology/approach – Signal breaches from the Moving Average Convergence Divergence and Chande’s TrendScore technical trading indicators were utilised, while the voluntary environmental and social accounting disclosure index developed by Williams (1998) was adapted to measure the extent of CSRD by Singaporean firms in 2011. Ordinary least squares regression was the principal multivariate statistical technique used to analyse the data collected. Findings – Findings of this paper indicate a positive and significant association between the number of technical indicator signal breaches for a firm and the level of CSRD by that firm, particularly in the environment, energy, human resources and products and customers categories. Research limitations/implications – The collection of CSRD information is based solely on annual reports and within the context of Singapore. Results, therefore, are not completely generalisable to different jurisdictional settings. Practical implications – Findings suggest that firms with a volatile stock price trend provide greater CSRD, possibly as a legitimacy strategy to distract or change the perceptions of investors from its current legitimacy status. Findings, therefore, highlight to regulators the need to strengthen regulatory requirements and implement stricter guidelines on CSR reporting, given the importance of CSRD to users. Social implications – Findings from this study have several implications for various stakeholders including investors, regulators and society in general. Overall, findings also suggest that stakeholders should not rely solely on CSRD in their decision-making process. Originality/value – This is the first paper that has proxied stock price movement by using breaches in technical trading indicators when examining reported levels of CSRD by firms. Moreover, results greatly build on the sparse CSR research on Singapore.

Intellectual capital: the missing link in the corporate social responsibility–financial performance relationship

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Niccolò Nirino ◽  
Alberto Ferraris ◽  
Nicola Miglietta ◽  
Anna Chiara Invernizzi
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Financial Performance ◽  
Intellectual Capital ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Mediating Effect ◽  
Least Squares Regression ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Csr Strategies ◽  
Corporate Social

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to propose and empirically test intellectual capital (IC) as a mediator in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) and financial performance (FP) relationship.Design/methodology/approachThe empirical research was conducted on 345 European firms listed in the STOXX Europe 600 index. To evaluate the mediating effect of IC, we applied the four-step Baron and Kenny model, tested through an ordinary least squares regression analysis.FindingsThe findings highlighted a partial mediation of IC on the CSR–FP relationship, suggesting that the implementation of CSR strategies has a positive effect on the development of firms' IC, which in turn enhances firms' competitive advantage and superior long-term FPs.Originality/valueWe found a new mediator in the CSR–FP relationship and we contribute to a new line of research that aims to study environmental and sustainability aspects strictly interrelated with IC and performances (sustainable intellectual capital).

The impact of corporate social responsibility on employee performance and cost

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 262-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Sun ◽  
T. Robert Yu
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Employee Performance ◽  
Labor Cost ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Least Squares Regression ◽  
Socially Responsible ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – The purpose of our paper is to empirically examine the conjectures, which prior literature suggests, that employees work more productively in socially responsible companies and employees are willing to work for less when they work for these companies. Design/methodology/approach – This study uses ordinary least squares regression to examine the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and employee performance and between CSR and employee cost. Further, 2SLS is used to address the endogeneity issue. Findings – The results indicate a positive relation between CSR and employee performance, suggesting that employees in socially responsible companies generate better operating performance than their peers in less socially responsible companies. Findings also reveal that socially responsible companies incur higher labor cost. Research limitations/implications – First, the CSR ratings constructed by KLD Inc. are an approximate measure of CSR performance. Better CSR measures may yield stronger results. Additionally, the sample firms in our study are relatively large firms. Caution needs be exercised when readers generalize these conclusions. Finally, this sample only consists of public firms. Whether these conclusions hold in private firms remains unknown. The above issues can be investigated in future studies. Practical implications – The findings of our study should interest managers who contemplate engaging in socially responsible activities, investors and financial analysts who assess firm performance and policymakers who design and implement guidelines on CSR programs. Originality/value – This is the first paper that directly tests the association between CSR and employee performance and cost. Thus, this study contributes to the CSR literature by offering evidence to show a positive effect of CSR on employee performance. It also contributes to the management accounting literature.

Corporate social responsibility and stock price crash risk

2016 ◽  
Vol 42 (10) ◽  
pp. 963-979 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ming-Te Lee
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Stock Price ◽  
Crash Risk ◽  
Least Squares Regression ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Empirical Results ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to test opposing views of the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and stock price crash risk in a major Asian emerging stock market. Design/methodology/approach This paper suggests an endogenous relationship between CSR and stock price crash risk. Hence, this paper uses two-stage least squares regression analysis to address the bias and inconsistency associated with endogeneity issues. Moreover, previous studies argue that the level of effectiveness of corporate governance significantly affects firm-specific stock price crash risk. Thus, this paper further divides the overall sample into two sub-samples according to the median of the corporate governance index. Furthermore, this paper investigates the impact of CSR on stock price crash risk under corporate governance. Findings The empirical results show that CSR significantly mitigates Taiwanese stock price crash risk. This finding is consistent with the notion that socially responsible Taiwanese firms commit to a higher standard of transparency and engage in less bad news hoarding, thus reducing crash risk. The empirical results also show that CSR has a more pronounced effect in mitigating crash risk for Taiwanese firms with less effective corporate governance. Originality/value The study findings indicate that CSR plays a more important role in reducing crash risk for Taiwanese firms with weak governance mechanisms.

The roles of macro and micro institutions in corporate social responsibility (CSR)

2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (5) ◽  
pp. 955-971 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Pan ◽  
Xuanjin Chen ◽  
Lutao Ning
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Institutional Environment ◽  
Institutional Development ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Research Database ◽  
Least Squares Regression ◽  
Content Type ◽  
National Institutions ◽  
Corporate Social

Purpose Firms’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) behaviour is embedded in the institutional context. Under this logic, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the institutional antecedents of CSR, especially how two sub-national institutions – regional institutional development and industry dynamism – and their interactions affect firms’ CSR. Design/methodology/approach The sample consists of 608 Chinese listed firms, with 2,694 observations made from 2009 to 2014. The data were collected from two sources. The CSR information was acquired from the CSR rating agency Rankins CSR Ratings, and the financial data from the China Stock Market and Accounting Research database. Panel ordinary least squares regression was used to test the hypotheses. Findings The empirical results indicate that firms located in advanced regional institutions and more dynamic industries are more likely to engage in CSR. Moreover, macro institution, termed as regional institutional development, positively moderates the relationship between micro institution in terms of industry dynamism and CSR. Originality/value Overlooking how the institutional environment influences CSR decisions limits understanding of firms’ CSR activities. This paper offers an institutional explanation of CSR and, in particular, investigates different levels of sub-national institutions and their interaction.

Micro-loans and financial performance: a case of a Chinese commercial bank

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jasmine Alam ◽  
Mustapha Ibn Boamah ◽  
Yuheng Liu
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Financial Performance ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Overall Performance ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
Corporate Social Responsibility Reports ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose This study aims to investigate the relationship between a commercial bank’s micro-loaning activity and overall performance over a 10-year period. Design/methodology/approach Quarterly data was obtained from the Wind Database, China Minsheng Banks’s official annual reports and annual corporate social responsibility reports from 2009 to 2019, to test the linear relationship between micro-loan activities and the overall financial performance of the bank. Findings The results of this study empirically demonstrate that there is a positive relationship between increases in micro-loaning activity and the overall performance of the bank. Some key recommendations for the sector are shared in the conclusion of this paper. Originality/value In the financial sector, some corporate social responsibility activities focus on the issuance of micro-loans. It is unclear, however, if this has also served as a means to increase profitability and overall performance for such institutions.

Board independence and corporate social responsibility reporting: mediating role of stakeholder power

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Afzalur Rashid
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Board Independence ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Reporting Practices ◽  
Csr Reporting ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
Stakeholder Power

Purpose This study aims to examine the association between board independence and corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting and the moderating role of stakeholder power on the association between board independence and CSR reporting. Design/methodology/approach Using a sample of 707 Bangladeshi firm-year observations, this study uses a content analysis technique to develop a 24-item of CSR reporting index. This study uses the ordinary least squares regression method to examine the relationship between board independence and CSR reporting. Findings The study finds that board independence does not influence CSR activities and relevant reporting in general. However, the non-influence of board independence and CSR reporting is offset by stakeholder power. Insider ownership, firm age, firm size, growth opportunities and market capitalisation have a positive influence on such reporting. Practical implications While this study suggests that stakeholders’ influence is an important factor in determining the firms’ incentives to disclose CSR information, this finding creates a new debate on the efficacy of independent directors and whether they are good monitors and are able to fulfil all the stakeholders’ expectations. Originality/value This study makes an important contribution to the literature on CSR practices by documenting that firms having powerful stakeholders induce the board and management to make more CSR reporting practices in the context of emerging economies.

The impact of corporate social responsibility on firms’ financial performance, evidence from the food and beverage industry

2019 ◽  
Vol 122 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niccolò Nirino ◽  
Nicola Miglietta ◽  
Antonio Salvi
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Financial Performance ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Social Outcomes ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Food And Beverage ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on firms’ financial performance (FP) in the food and beverage (F&B) sector. Design/methodology/approach The authors developed a conceptual model that hypothesizes a positive effect of CSR governance on CSR outcomes (environmental and social) and these on firm’s FP. Gathering data from 190 F&B companies, the authors empirically tested the validity of the model through an ordinary least squares regression analysis. Findings The findings highlight the positive impact of CSR governance on environmental and social outcomes, showing real societal concerns among companies’ stakeholders in the F&B industry. Studies on the effect of CSR outcomes on FP have shown mixed results. On one side, the social outcomes positively impact a firm’s performance; on the other side, environmental outcomes show insignificant or non-positive effects depending on different measurements of FP. Originality/value Despite the mixed set of results between CSR and a firm’s performance in the literature, this research provides a new framework in which the impact of CSR on FP is analysed through the effectiveness of CSR governance on CSR outcomes (social and environmental). Moreover, this study contributes to the CSR literature understanding the impact of both environment and social concerns by companies on firm’s FP in F&B context.

scholarly journals Corporate social responsibility through sport: a longitudinal study of the FTSE100 companies

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 218-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Bason ◽  
Christos Anagnostopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Multinational Enterprises ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Csr Disclosure ◽  
Corporate Social

Purpose – Under growing public scrutiny of their behaviour, the vast majority of multinational enterprises (MNEs) have been undertaking significant investments through corporate social responsibility (CSR) in order to close legitimacy gaps. The purpose of this paper is to provide a descriptive account of the nature and scope of MNEs’ CSR programmes that have sport at their core. More specifically, the present study addresses the following questions. First, how do Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) 100 firms utilise sport as part of their CSR agendas? Second, how do different industries have different approaches to CSR through sport? And third, can the types of CSR through sport be classified? Design/methodology/approach – Centred on legitimacy theory and exploratory in nature, the study employed a content analysis method, and examined three types of document from each of the FTSE100 firms, namely, annual reports, annual reviews and CSR reports over the ten-year period from 2003 to 2012. In total, 1,473 documents were content analysed, thereby offering a sound representation of CSR disclosure of the FTSE100. Findings – From the analysis, three main streams emerged: “Philanthropy”, “Sponsorships” and “Personnel engagement” with the first showing the smallest growth compared with the other main streams. Findings show the general rise in CSR through sport, thereby demonstrating that the corporate world has practically acknowledged that the sporting context is a powerful vehicle for the employment of CSR. Originality/value – Previous empirical studies have sought to investigate CSR through sport, yet they have generally suffered from sampling limitations which have, in turn, rendered the drawing of reliable conclusions problematic. Particularly, the lack of an explicit focus on longitudinality is a typical limitation, meaning that no conclusions can be made regarding the trend. The study outlined in this paper offers the most comprehensive longitudinal study of CSR through sport to date, and thus contributes to the increasing volume of literature that examines the application of CSR in relation to the sport sector.

Corporate social responsibility accounting for arising issues

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 370-383 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Weber ◽  
Ulf Larsson-Olaison
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Institutional Settings ◽  
German Model ◽  
European Refugee Crisis ◽  
Different Response ◽  
Corporate Social

Purpose Arising societal issues challenge corporate social responsibility. The purpose of this paper is to analyze how corporations account for arising issues under different institutional settings: the stakeholder oriented corporate governance model of Germany is hypothesized to produce a different response than the more state dominated Swedish welfare model. Design/methodology/approach This paper takes the reported CSR response of the largest corporations in Germany and Sweden, in relation to the 2015 European refugee crisis, as its case. In total, 157 annual reports are investigated by means of text analysis for statements in relation to the European refugee crisis. Findings Empirically, German corporations are more prone to communicate on this emerging issue, and deploying corporate resources to an emerging societal crisis. Based on that finding, this study concludes that the German model is more in line with international CSR-discourse than the Swedish. Research limitations/implications This study has implications for institutional theory perspectives on CSR accounting-related issues. By comparing two economies that would be characterized as “coordinated market economies” a somewhat different set of topics becomes apparent. Further considering country context could be useful when expanding the debate on CSR accounting. Originality/value This study is the first to empirically investigate corporate diplomacy with regard to the European refugee crisis. Besides others, corporations are important societal players. Therefore, corporations bear both, the obligation to deal with arising issues and the potential to participate in public opinion-forming with regard to those issues.

Comparing UK food retailers corporate social responsibility strategies

2017 ◽  
Vol 119 (3) ◽  
pp. 658-675 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diogo Souza-Monteiro ◽  
Neal Hooker
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
New Products ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Complete Analysis ◽  
Corporate Communications ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Csr Strategies ◽  
Food Retailers ◽  
Corporate Social

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how socio-economic and institutional factors impact UK food retailers’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies as revealed in corporate communications and product marketing. Building on institutional theory, the authors empirically examine whether discourse in CSR reports aligns with commercial strategies. Design/methodology/approach Employing a mixed method approach the authors quantify quotes related to key CSR themes in annual reports and claims on new private label products launched in nine key product categories using information from Mintel’s Global New Products Database. These measures are grouped into eight distinct CSR themes across seven retailers and seven years (2006-2012). Findings Health and safety and environment are the leading themes in both data sets. Animal welfare, community and biotechnology and novel foods take the middle ground with differing use across reports and products. Fair trade, labor and human resources and procurement and purchasing are the least commonly described themes in reports and on products. Retailers focus on different CSR themes in reports and new products, which may be evidence of competitive rather than pre-competitive strategies. Research limitations/implications This research shows that UK food retailers CSR strategies between 2006 and 2012 were more competitive than pre-competitive, which is in line with theory that suggests economic pressures decrease incentives to cooperate. However, this research is limited to innovation data and analysis of CSR reports. A more complete analysis would need to consider sales or consumption data, wider sources of corporate communications and independent measures of social, environmental and economic impact. The authors’ findings caution policy makers to be wary of retailers commitments to voluntary agreement pledges, particularly when the competitive environment and economic conditions are more challenging. Practical implications Firms are increasingly pressured to contribute to social and environmental domestic and international commitments. Business should enhance coordination between CSR offices and commercial divisions to develop more consistent and effective social responsibility programs. Originality/value This is the first attempt to compare the evolution of CSR discourse and marketing strategy over time and across businesses in a key retail market.

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