The relationship between corporate social responsibility and shareholder value: an empirical test of the risk management hypothesis

Do shareholders gain when managers disperse corporate resources through activities classified as corporate social responsibility (CSR)? Strategy scholars have recently developed a theoretical model that links such activities to shareholder value when a firm suffers a negative event; we test key portions of this theory of the ‘insurance‐like’ property of CSR activity. We posit that such activity leads to positive attributions from stakeholders, who then temper their negative judgments and sanctions toward firms because of this goodwill. We extend the risk management model by theorizing that some types of CSR activities will be more likely to create goodwill and offer insurance‐like protection than other types. We delineate several firm and event specific characteristics that we expect to influence the link between CSR activities and an insurance effect. We then test our model using an event study of 178 negative legal/regulatory actions against firms throughout the 11 years from 1993–2003. We find that participation in institutional CSR activities—those aimed at a firm's secondary stakeholders or society at large—provides an ‘insurance‐like’ benefit, while participation in technical CSRs—those activities targeting a firm's trading partners—yields no such benefits. We conclude by considering the implications of our findings for future theorizing and research into the economic value of CSR engagement. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Incentives for cattle producers to adopt an E. Coli vaccine: An application of best–worst scaling

E. coli O157:H7 is an important source of foodborne disease. The E. coli pathogen occurs naturally within the rumen of livestock (including cattle) and does not affect the health of the cattle, however, can be a source of cross-contamination during food processing or environmental contamination of drinking and irrigation water supplies. A vaccine to reduce the risk of cattle shedding E. coli is licensed for use in Canada and the US, however, adoption of the vaccine by cattle producers has been extremely low. Using data from a survey of cow–calf producers in western Canada, the influence of a set of thirteen incentives to encourage adoption of the vaccine is examined using Best–Worst Scaling. Incentives include policy interventions, market/supply chain incentives, production protocol incentives, and producer reputation incentives. Heterogeneity in producer responses to the incentives is evident and is further explored with a Latent Class Cluster analysis. Results suggest that a ‘one size fits all’ policy to encourage adoption of an E. coli vaccine by cattle producers may be challenging.     

基于组合赋权法的多谐波源责任综合评估

为区分多谐波源负荷对公共点的谐波责任,提出一种基于组合赋权法的多谐波源责任综合评估方法。将各次谐波电压含有率作为评估指标,采用优序图与熵权的组合赋权法得到的综合评价结果对谐波电压等级进行评估:定性分析了各负荷应负的谐波电压责任,定量比较了根据组合赋权法求得的加权谐波电压值。从主、客观方面采用组合赋权法对含有多谐波源系统进行责任综合评估,其评估结果客观、合理,具有一定的工程实际意义。     

Do‐no‐harm versus do‐good social responsibility: Attributional thinking and the liability of foreignness

Research summary: The efforts of multinational corporations to be socially responsible do not always engender positive evaluations from overseas stakeholders. Drawing on attribution theory, we argue that two heuristics guide stakeholders in evaluating firms' social performance: foreignness and the valence of firms' social responsibility. We provide evidence from a field study of secondary stakeholders and an experimental study involving 129 non‐governmental organizations. Consistent with attribution theory, the liability of foreignness is minimized when firms engage in “do‐good” social responsibility (focused on proactive engagement creating positive externalities) but is substantial when firms engage in “do‐no‐harm” social responsibility (focused on attenuating negative externalities). In online supporting information, Appendix S1, we demonstrate that these evaluations have consequences for whether stakeholders subsequently cooperate, or sow conflict, with firms. Managerial summary: There is no guarantee that efforts to be socially responsible will improve multinational corporations' relations with overseas stakeholders, such as customers, governments, and activists. In a field study and an experiment, we unpack when foreign firms suffer from harsh stakeholder evaluations. Foreign firms especially suffer from harsh evaluations when they conduct “do‐no‐harm” CSR rather than “do‐good” CSR. Stakeholders attribute the motive for foreign firms' do‐no‐harm CSR to managerial interests and shareholder pressures, perceiving a wedge between managers and owners (who may be unmotivated to reduce the negative impacts of their business activities) and local stakeholders (who bear the social costs). A practical implication is that foreign firms gain more from highlighting do‐good rather than do‐(no)‐harm CSR initiatives. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Near and dear? The role of location in CSR engagement

Research summary : Building on economic geography and institutional theory, we develop and test theory relating geographic variables to the strength of corporate social responsibility (CSR) engagement and the cost of equity capital. For a large sample of U.S. firms over the period 1998–2009, we find strong and robust evidence that firms located in areas characterized by high levels of local CSR density score higher in CSR engagement. In addition, firms located close to major cities and financial centers exhibit higher CSR engagement compared to firms located in more remote areas. Moreover, the effect of CSR engagement on reducing equity financing costs is even greater for firms in high CSR density areas than for firms in low CSR density areas. Managerial summary : Does the location of CSR engagement by firms affect the strength of CSR engagement by their neighbors? Does the geography of engagement have an impact on financial performance? Our findings show that a firm's CSR engagement increases in areas where there is dense CSR engagement and when it is located near large cities. In these areas, norms, values, and knowledge related to CSR are transmitted to firms through face‐to‐face meetings and frequent social interactions with groups such as peers, labor unions, news media, universities, and community organizations, which tend to be concentrated in large cities. Our findings further highlight that CSR engagement reduces equity financing costs for firms in areas where CSR is widely practiced. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The ‘Urban Age’ in Question

Foreboding declarations about contemporary urban trends pervade early twenty‐first century academic, political and journalistic discourse. Among the most widely recited is the claim that we now live in an ‘urban age’ because, for the first time in human history, more than half the world's population today purportedly lives within cities. Across otherwise diverse discursive, ideological and locational contexts, the urban age thesis has become a form of doxic common sense around which questions regarding the contemporary global urban condition are framed. This article argues that, despite its long history and its increasingly widespread influence, the urban age thesis is a flawed basis on which to conceptualize world urbanization patterns: it is empirically untenable (a statistical artifact) and theoretically incoherent (a chaotic conception). This critique is framed against the background of postwar attempts to measure the world's urban population, the main methodological and theoretical conundrums of which remain fundamentally unresolved in early twenty‐first century urban age discourse. The article concludes by outlining a series of methodological perspectives for an alternative understanding of the contemporary global urban condition.     

Evaluating Board Roles Performance in Adopting Corporate Social Responsibility （CSR） Practices

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the board roles that make a board effective in the performance of adopting corporate social responsibility （CSR） practices. This paper examines directors＇ perceptions of the three main roles： monitoring, service, and strategic, which provide tools for critically understanding how the board adds the value in moving the organization towards more CSR practices. The stakeholder theory is used to distinguish the influence of the three main roles on the adoption of CSR practices. Primary data were collected for this research by conducting structured questionnaires with a sample of 461 directors from Saudi listed companies for study purpose. The results show that an appropriate mix of directors＇ roles and the development of sound board monitoring and service roles are the most crucial determinants of CSR adoption in Saudi listed companies. As the extant corporate governance and CSR literatures do not provide a clear perspective with contradictory outcomes about board roles in influencing CSR practices, the originality of this research is its contribution by evaluating the directors＇ perceptions of developing a direct relationship between the board roles and the adoption of CSR practices. Furthermore, the use of the stakeholder theory provides additional insights into identifying the most influential board role factors enhancing stakeholders＇ expectations of CSR practices.     

加强新形势下企业纪检监察部门监督责任的策略分析

企业纪检监察部门肩负着党的纪律检查和企业行政监察职能,在党风廉政建设和反腐败工作中发挥着重要的监督作用。本文对当前企业纪检监察部门工作现状进行了分析,并有针对性地提出了解决对策,具有一定的借鉴意义。     

消费者视角下江苏医药企业履行社会责任满意度研究

从消费者视角出发,通过对江苏12家公立医院的300名消费者的实地调研,对江苏医药企业消费者社会责任履行的满意度的调研结果进行因子分析,并根据分析结论提出针对性的建议,以促进江苏医药企业更好的履行社会责任。     

直销产品的价格剖析

直销产品的价格一直为社会各界诟病,直销产品的市场表现同样令人刮目相看。文章从产品、销售模式等方面分析了直销产品高价格畅销的原因。