Investor Tastes, Corporate Behavior, and Stock Returns: An Analysis of Corporate Social Responsibility

We classify institutions into socially responsible investors (SRI) and not socially responsible investors using the value weighted corporate social responsibility (CSR) scores of their portfolio holdings. We find that firms that exhibit increases in SRI ownership tend to increase future CSR scores. Our analysis of stock price responses to the revelation of SRI ownership changes indicates that the revelation of higher SRI ownership is associated with negative stock returns. These effects are particularly strong when we focus on SRI-activists, who tend to target firms with low CSR scores and lobby to increase them over time. These observations are consistent with the hypothesis that anticipated increases in CSR activities reduce firm values. This paper was accepted by David Simchi-Levi, finance.

Re-imagining Corporate Community Involvement during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of Pharmaceutical Companies in Guangdong Province, China

In this paper, we examine the participation of commercial firms in the fight against COVID-19 through the lens of Corporate Community Involvement (CCI). To display CCI as part of ethical and responsible corporate behavior, CCI studies often use a business-centered approach while paying less attention to the role of the state. Based on the stories of some pharmaceutical companies in Guangdong province joining China’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, we argue that the state may play a crucial role in shaping CCI activities and in making companies partner with the government under a state of emergency. We also point out that it is likely for these companies to translate their involvement in solving public health problems into profit-seeking opportunities. As such, this paper contributes to CCI studies by introducing a state-led approach and suggesting a form of “state-led and market-driven” CCI. Moreover, this study provides fresh information about the effects of corporations on social life and the practice of socially responsible corporate behavior in a state of public health emergency to anthropologists in the new subfields of anthropology of corporate social responsibility and anthropology of business corporations.

Seeking transparency makes one blind: how to rethink disclosure, account for nature and make corporations sustainable

PurposeFinancial and nonfinancial disclosures are still anchored to conventional notions of transparency, whereby corporations “push” information out to various stakeholders. Such information is now “pulled” from various sources and addresses aspects of corporate behavior that go well beyond those envisioned by the disclosure framework. This shift makes notions of values, measurement and accountability more fragmented, complex and difficult. The paper aims to bring the accounting scholarly debate back to what and how transparency can be achieved especially in relation to issues of social inequality and sustainability.Design/methodology/approachAfter an analysis of the limitations of current approaches to disclosure, the paper proposes a shift toward normative policies that profit of years of critique of positivism.FindingsDrawing on the notion of value-added, the paper ends with a new income statement design, labeled as Value-Added Statement for Nature, which recognizes Nature as a further stakeholder and forces human stakeholders to give voice, or at least acknowledge the lack of voice, for non-human actors.Originality/valueThe author proposes a shift in the perspective, practice and institutional arrangements in which disclosure occurs. Measurement and transparency need to happen in communication exercises, which do not presuppose what needs to be made transparent once and for good but define procedures on how to make fragmented, complex, multiple and volatile notions of value transparent. Income statements and accounting more in general is to be reconceived as a platform where stakeholders will have to continuously negotiate what counts as the common good in the interest of all, including Nature.

Mediapro: reconversión de un carrier en grupo global de comunicación

The transformation that the Spanish company Mediapro has undergone from its beginning as carrier to become a global communication group –the first in Spain by net income– is studied. Mediapro is one of the largest European producers and one of the largest broadcasters of world sports broadcasting rights. Starting from an analysis of its strengths and weaknesses and an in-depth study of its industrial diversification policies and its business results, as well as its corporate reputation, closely linked to corporate behavior, the text also investigates some of the keys to its future as a large media conglomerate, subject to an extraordinarily competitive sector and in full digital transformation. The conclusion is that in a business context in which it must compete with the world´s largest content producers, as well as with the large holders of sports broadcasting rights, this future must necessarily go through less dependence on sports rights –subject to a fierce negotiation with large global conglomerates– and, at the same time, for a clear reinforcement of its corporate reputation. Resumen Se estudia la transformación que ha experimentado la empresa española Mediapro desde sus inicios como carrier (transportador de señal) hasta convertirse en un grupo global de comunicación –el primero de España por ingresos netos y ebitda–, además de una de las mayores productoras europeas y uno de los mayores difusores de derechos de retransmisiones deportivas mundiales, y que opera en numerosos países. Partiendo de un análisis de las fortalezas y debilidades de Mediapro y de un estudio profundo de sus políticas de diversificación industrial y de sus resultados empresariales, así como de su reputación corporativa, íntimamente unida al comportamiento corporativo, el texto indaga también en algunas de las claves de su futuro como gran conglomerado mediático, sujeto a un sector extraordinariamente competitivo y en plena transformación digital. La conclusión es que en un contexto de negocio en el que debe competir con las mayores productoras de contenidos mundiales, así como con los grandes poseedores de los derechos de retransmisiones deportivas, este futuro debe pasar necesariamente por una menor dependencia de los derechos deportivos –sujetos a una férrea negociación con grandes conglomerados mundiales– y, al mismo tiempo, por un claro reforzamiento de su reputación corporativa.

Pengungkapan Penerapan Corporate Social Responsibility pada Hotel Aston Kuta

Nowadays, society and companies are increasing aware of the importance of environmental conservation of activities, improvement of economic standards and social harmony. CSR is away to show the company’s concern for the environment and the suroounding community. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities, or also known as Social Activities or often called Sustainability Development, are not a disclosure of the behavior of an individual in a company but are a disclosure of corporate behavior that can increase social trust in the company. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities for a hotel do not directly increase company profits, but by carrying out these activities in the environment and in the surrounding community, it will improve the company's image in the eyes of the public. There are various kinds of activities that can be categorized as part of CSR, from the promotion and marketing of social activities, philanthropic activities (charity), voluntary social/ community work. Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR); Disclosure of Corporate Behavior; Improve The Company's Image In The Eyes of The Public; Various Kinds Of CSR.

Stakeholders within the framework of Corporate Social Responsibility: A systematic review

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) represents the ethical corporate behavior in relation to stakeholders to respond to their needs and expectations; however, it has been suggested that involving stakeholders in corporate management reduces the profit maximization and leads to losses. Thus, this paper intends to analyze theoretical and conceptual trends on stakeholders and CSR between 2012 and 2016 to contextualize their origin, characteristics, and perspectives. The systematic review methodology was followed, which stems from bibliometric analysis to identify patterns related with literature, impact studies, and theoretical-conceptual evolution. The results show that organizations must find a balance between their interests in profit and socially responsible practices through sustainable processes from the social, economic, and environmental perspectives.

Do high-reputation companies pay more non-audit fees?

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the association between companies’ reputation and their purchase of non-audit services (NAS). Design/methodology/approach This study measures company reputation using the reputation scores from Fortune’s “America’s Most Admired Companies” list. Multivariate analysis is performed to examine the association between public companies’ overall reputation and their decision of NAS purchase. Robustness checks are performed to control for self-selection bias and alternate measures are used to proxy for company reputation and NAS fees. Findings This study finds that high-reputation companies on average pay more NAS fees than their counterparts. The results suggest that due to less severe agency conflicts, high-reputation companies tend to purchase more NAS from their incumbent auditors to appreciate the potential benefits of the auditors’ knowledge spillovers. Originality/value The findings of this study on the association between company reputation and NAS fees contribute to the literature by providing additional insight on the factors influencing companies’ NAS purchases. The results of this study suggest that a unique company-level characteristic, company reputation, is significantly associated with companies’ NAS purchase, and therefore has both policy and practical implications for the demand of NAS. This study also adds to the growing literature on the influence of company reputation on corporate behavior by documenting the important role that company reputation plays in the managerial decision-making process.

When Bad Becomes Worse: Unethical Corporate Behavior May Hamper Consumer Acceptance of Cultured Meat

Cultured meat is an emerging food innovation that promises to be a more sustainable alternative to conventional meat. However, despite its potential health, environmental and animal welfare benefits, research suggests that consumer acceptance of cultured meat is not assured. Across two pre-registered experimental studies (N = 456), this article investigates the extent to which two different credence characteristics, namely corporate social responsibility (Study 1) and food safety (Study 2), lead to halo-based inferences that may affect the consumer acceptance of cultured meat. Results indicate that, whereas the halo effect of positive corporate behavior is negligible, negative corporate behavior yields a substantial negative halo effect on consumers’ attitudes towards cultured meat, which in turn decreases acceptance of cultured meat. Findings also reveal that these negative halo-based inferences are heightened among consumers who value highly corporate social responsibility (Study 1) and food safety (Study 2). Overall, this article reveals an asymmetric halo effect by showing that people tend to react strongly to negative, but not to positive, information about a cultured meat company. The implications of the present research are discussed in the conclusion.