Assessing whether corporate social responsibility influence corporate value

This study used the corporate social responsibility (CSR) index to gauge the corporate value and social responsibility performance of corporations in Taiwan. We investigated whether CSR influences corporate value and whether the extent of that influence varies with corporate value or time. The results indicate that the influence of CSR on corporate value does not change with time. CSR exerts a positive influence on company value, and this influence does not change over time. However, the extent of the influence significantly varies with corporate value. When the corporate value of a company is not high, investing in CSR would only increase costs and fail to effectively increase corporate value. In contrast, if the corporate value of the company is high, investments in CSR in this circumstance would instead promote the effective increase of corporate value.     

Deciphering the motives behind corporate social responsibility (CSR) using managerial ownership: evidence from heteroskedastic identification

Motivated by agency theory, we investigate the effect of managerial ownership on CSR engagement. Exploiting a novel identification strategy and using a large U.S. sample of over 14,000 observations across 18 years, we find that higher managerial ownership diminishes CSR engagement significantly. As managers own a larger share of equity, they bear greater costs of CSR, leading to a reduction in CSR engagement. Further analysis, however, shows that not all CSR activities are motivated by agency problems. In particular, the CSR activities related to human rights and products appear to promote shareholders’ wealth. The results of this study are important as they show that there can be different motives behind different CSR activities. We contribute to the literature by shedding light on the motives behind CSR investments using a novel identification strategy.     

The impact of corporate social responsibility activities on corporate financing: a case of bank loan covenants

We examine the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities on the intensity of loan covenants, one of the most important nonpricing terms of syndicated loan contracts. Undocumented in the existing literature, we offer new evidence that while CSR strengths have little impact on loan covenants, CSR concerns lead to stricter loan covenants. These asymmetric results suggest that while lenders view CSR strengths as discretionary, they are more concerned about value-destroying CSR concerns, which induces the lenders to screen out firms engaging in nonsocially responsible activities and penalize these firms with stricter loan covenants. Combined with the evidence on the CSR-loan spread association in the existing literature, our results provide strong evidence that CSR matters to both pricing and nonpricing terms of loan contracts.     

Firm value in commonly uncertain times: the divergent effects of corporate governance and CSR

Economic uncertainty disrupts firms’ ability to create value. Most related literature examines how various organizational characteristics affect value under extreme conditions – the global financial crisis. However, recent work in quantifying economic uncertainty now makes it possible to take a more nuanced approach in investigating the conditions under which this value reduction can be mitigated during more ‘commonly uncertain’ periods. In this paper we analyze the effects of corporate governance mechanisms and social responsibility investments on Tobin’s q across 13 years and 40 countries. Evidence suggests that shareholder-centric corporate governance policies restrict board and executive flexibility during uncertain times, and therefore stifle their ability to react effectively to adverse macroeconomic changes. We also find that CSR initiatives serve as insurance in that they preserve value under uncertainty by acting as a reservoir of social capital.     

The effects of national culture on corporate social responsibility disclosure: a cross-country comparison

This article presents a cross-country analysis of the influence of national culture on corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure. We analyse the relationship between the Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and the sustainability disclosure with the GDP per capita (GDPPC) of 44 countries, using panel data with information based on the Global Reporting Initiative guidelines. The governance effectiveness and the foreign direct investment are also included in the analysis. The results show that in countries with higher GDPPC, the CSR disclosure is negatively related to individualism and masculinity and positively related to uncertainty avoidance and indulgence. When focusing in countries with lower GDPPC, the results suggest that CSR disclosure is negatively related to power distance and positively related to uncertainty avoidance. Moreover, five of the six Hofstede’s cultural dimensions negatively affect sustainability disclosure in countries with middle GDPPC.     

Employee political affiliation as a driver of corporate social responsibility intensity

This article explores the connection between corporate social responsibility (CSR) intensity and the political affiliation of elite management and lower-level personnel and offers evidence that CSR initiatives are frequently driven from the bottom-up by employees actively expressing their sociopolitical views. While directors and CEOs play an important role within certain CSR dimensions, results suggest that employees are significantly more influential overall. A one-standard-deviation shift to the political left for directors, CEOs and elite executives yields gains in CSR of 5%, 9% and 3%, respectively, while a one-standard-deviation left-shift for employees produces a 33% increase. Findings may help to explain why similar firms engaging in comparable social initiatives can experience heterogeneous returns to CSR outlays and suggest that a corporate culture approach may be warranted in future studies.     

Foreign investors and corporate social responsibility: evidence from the career advancement of women in Japan

I examine whether foreign investors invest in firms that encourage the career advancement of women by using data from a sample of Japanese firms during the period 2008–2011. First, I find that corporate governance reform and work-life balance practices facilitate the promotion of women to higher positions in firms. Furthermore, I find that foreign investors hold more shares of firms that encourage the career advancement of women. Overall, these results indicate that the career advancement of women, as a part of corporate social responsible activities, benefits foreign investors.     

Fiscal decentralization and corporate investment: empirical evidence from China

This paper examines the effect of fiscal decentralization on levels and efficiency of corporate investment. The results indicate that as the extent of local government fiscal decentralization increases, the level of new investment by firms under their jurisdiction rises. Furthermore, fiscal decentralization has an impact on corporate investment by aggravating over-investment rather than alleviating under-investment, leading to a situation whereby fiscal decentralization is negatively associated with investment efficiency at the level of the firm. Finally, the impact of fiscal decentralization on over-investment, under-investment and investment efficiency is not different between state-owned enterprises and non-state-owned enterprises, suggesting that economic leverages are the dominant government intervention measures. The findings imply that fiscal decentralization is another determinant of firm-level investment and corporate investment efficiency, which broadens the existing literature on the economic consequence of fiscal decentralization, resulting in important implications for policy-making.     

Quantitative easing and default probability of corporate social responsibility in US

The US Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing (QE) policies lowered the cost of servicing corporate debt and enhanced firms’ ability to borrow. This article seeks to improve the accuracy of default probability calculations as proposed by Merton (1974) under conditions of lower interest rates resulting from QE. By modifying the long-term debt ratio, we find distance to default is undervalued. Specifically, we find that the distance to default is more stably for firms with excellent corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance, but those with poor CSR performance are significantly undervalued. Our results show that improved CSR performance correctly estimates the firm’s default risk, even during QE when the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet expanded by nearly $4.5 trillion.     

Debt and corporate governance in emerging economiesEvidence from India1

We analyze the role of debt in corporate governance with respect to a large emerging economy, India, where debt has been an important source of external finance. Using cross‐sectional data on listed manufacturing firms we estimate, simultaneously, the relation between Tobin's Q and leverage for three years, 1996, 2000 and 2003. Our analysis indicates that while in the early years of institutional change, debt did not have any disciplinary effect on either standalone or group affiliated firms, the disciplinary effect appeared in the later years as institutions became more market oriented. We also find limited evidence of debt being used as an expropriation mechanism in group firms that are more vulnerable to such expropriation. In general, our results highlight the role of ownership structures and institutions in debt governance.     

Can corporate social responsibility resolve the sanitation question in developing Asian countries?

The existing state of sanitation in developing Asian countries fails to deliver a level of service that is adequate for meeting the human right to a standard of living consistent with dignity and health, or for sustaining the capacity for future generations to have access to clean water resources and healthy ecosystems. We argue that translating the current neo-centralised technologies and institutional arrangements mainstreamed by industrialised countries would not resolve the problem in the context of developing countries. Instead it is necessary to ‘leap frog’ to the emerging technological and institutional arrangements that are responsive to current needs and contexts and to potential risks. The sustainability focus and often decentralised technologies of this emergent stage in sanitation present many opportunities for new actors to enter the urban sanitation industry. At the same time, there are many barriers to entry, particularly from the perspective of conventional business management focused on increasing shareholder value.We propose that perspectives from the corporate social responsibility discourse have the potential to provide both the ‘pull’ for seizing the business opportunity for profit while serving social needs, and the ‘push’ to overcome the barriers in order to serve a wider social purpose for corporations. The wealth of nations, at least as reported in ubiquitous GDP terms, has greatly increased through the activities of corporations driven by a profit motive; but the increased poverty, injustice and ecosystem degradation that have resulted from economic activity suggest that corporations perhaps ought to have regard for broader concerns beyond shareholder value. We explore how the alternative relational view of a corporation, as a metaphorical person within society who adopts a moral code consistent with both Buddhist economics and Adam Smith's philosophy, may facilitate profitable corporations that provide better economic, ecological and social outcomes in serving the need for sustainable sanitation services in developing Asian countries.     

Market risk disclosures,corporate governance structure and political connections: evidence from GCC firms

This paper investigates the joint effect of political connections, in the form of the royal family member on board, and corporate governance on the market risk disclosures of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) financial firms from 2007 to 2011. Previous research suggest that politically connected firms reduce the level of transparency in the GCC. However, we find that better corporate governance improves transparency and can be used as an effective tool in curbing the potentially adverse impact of politically connected board members on firms’ transparency. Our results have important implications for policy makers and can be generalized to other emerging markets.     

上市公司网络新媒体信息披露研究 :基于微博的实证分析

近年来 ,微博等网络新媒体在公众的信息分享与传播中扮演了越来越重要的角色.这些网络新媒体的出现不仅开创了人际传播的新模式 ,而且对资本市场的信息提供与传播以及信息的获取方式、途径和及时性带来了重大的影响和变革.文章通过手工收集并逐条阅读上市公司在新浪微博上发布的信息 ,首次对上市公司的微博信息披露进行了考察.研究结果显示 ,目前上市公司通过微博披露的信息内容非常广泛 ,其中 ,披露比例最高的为公司经营类信息 ,尤其是销售合同、企业获奖和研发创新等内容.这些信息中,未经公司正式公告披露的信息约占微博信息披露总量的84% .进一步地,我们还考察了上市公司特征对其开设微博意愿及发布信息数量的影响.研究结果显示 ,公司治理水平越高的公司越倾向于开设微博且发布越多的与公司密切相关的信息,尤其是未经公司正式公告披露的信息以及经营活动策略类信息.网络新媒体信息披露作为一个新兴领域,还有很多值得深入研究的问题 ,如网络新媒体信息披露会对上市公司产生哪些影响?它能否降低股价同步性与公司融资成本?     

完善我国上市公司治理结构的路径选择

本考证了两种典型的公司治理模式的特征，效率和演变趋势，结合我国上市公司的股权结构分析了公司治理结构，并得出结论：现实的国情和西方公司治理的演变趋势决定了完善我国上市公司治理结构的路戏只能是首先完善公司内部治理结构，未来应朝着以内部治理的主、外部治理为辅的博采众长的混合模式的方向发展。     

The role of short selling threat in corporate environmental disclosure strategies: Evidence from China

Using staggered deregulation of short sales constraints in the Chinese capital market, this study investigates how short selling threat related to corporate environmental disclosure strategies. Our study finds that pilot firms experience a larger increase in hard disclosures, and a larger decrease in soft disclosures after short selling deregulation. Specifically, the increase in hard disclosure is found primarily at good environmental performers, whereas the decrease in soft disclosure is primarily found at poor environmental performers. Further analysis shows that the increase in hard disclosure and the decrease in soft disclosure is significantly more pronounced at firms that are covered by small number of media and analysts, with low institutional ownership and stock liquidity. Overall, our findings suggest that firms might change the type of environmental disclosure to mitigate their exposures to short selling threat, and provide evidence of the disciplining effect of short sales on environmental disclosures.     

Politically connected managers,government ownership and corporate socially responsible investments: evidence from China

We investigated the effects of politically connected managers on the corporate socially responsible investments of firms with different types of ownership. The results show that SOEs with politically connected managers are more likely to invest in corporate socially responsible investments compared to SOEs without such managers. However, private firms with politically connected managers are less likely to invest in corporate socially responsible investments than private firms without such managers.     

Stock market reactions to announcements of the board of directors: evidence from Italy

The board of directors plays an important role in corporate governance. It is an internal mechanism that controls and monitors the actions of managers and aligns the utility functions between corporate owners and managers. The board of directors performs multiple functions that concern, for example, the replacement of the managers, financial policy, the preparation of strategic plans and other actions that affect the performance of the company. The board plays an important role since on the one hand it controls the actions of management and on the other it advises the management regarding the strategies to be adopted. In this study, 100 announcements regarding the appointment of the board of directors of 100 Italian listed companies during the period 2012–2014 are investigated. The results show a positive reaction within 20 days around the announcement date. In four of the six time windows, cumulative abnormal returns (CARs) are positive and statistically significant. The positive reaction of the market would appear, however, to be linked more to the composition of the board of directors than to the size of the board of directors.     

公司治理机制对信息技术投入的影响研究

以2001~2004年间信息技术类上市公司为研究样本,考察了公司治理机制对企业信息技术投入的影响。结果发现:股权集中度对公司信息技术投入产生显著的正面影响,而国有控股、董事长兼任总经理等治理机制对信息技术投入有显著的负面影响,高管人员持股比例与信息技术投入水平无关。这表明公司治理机制能够影响企业信息技术的投入行为。     

企业社会责任信息披露的价值评价研究

良好的信息披露能改善公司财务状况,提升公司形象,并反映在公司价值的增加上。那么,社会责任信息披露会给企业带来什么样的经济后果,这在相关研究中具有重要意义。为验证上市公司增加信息披露是否会提升公司价值,文章企业整体价值视角出发,利用托宾Q理论对中国上市公司社会责任信息披露与企业价值进行了实证研究。     

Board diversity and firm performance: evidence from the U.K. SMEs

This study examines the relationship between board diversity and firm performance in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the U.K. In particular, we investigate the role of gender and age as two dimensions of diversity. Using a large sample of SMEs (34,798 firms) located in the U.K. and focusing on the period from 2005 to 2013, our results show a significant negative association between each of gender diversity and age diversity, and firm performance. Our evidence yields important insights on the association between board diversity and firm performance, and calls suggestions for increased board diversity into question. A possible explanation for our findings could be due to the fact that our sampled firms are SMEs, whereas those in previous studies have been large enterprises. This research provides insights to entrepreneurs on how to enhance their performance, and to governments and policymakers on the development of rules that would achieve better performance in the SME sector.