1、2080 单词， 4238 汉字 Source: Edward Nelling, Elizabeth Webb,2009.“Corporate social responsibility and nancial performance: the virtuous circle revisited”. Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting,vol.32,no.2,pp.197209. 原文 ： Corporate social responsibility and nancial performance: the virtuous circl
2、e revisited We examine the causal relation between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and nancial performance. Consistent with past studies, we nd that the two variables appear to be related when we use traditional statistical techniques. However, using a time series xed effects approach, we nd t
3、hat the relation between CSR and nancial performance is much weaker than previously thought. We also nd little evidence of causality between nancial performance and narrower measures of social performance that focus on stakeholder management. Our results suggest that strong stock market performance
4、leads to greater rm investment in aspects of CSR devoted to employee relations, but that CSR activities do not affect nancial performance. We conclude that CSR is driven more by unobservable rm characteristics than by nancial performance. The area of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become
5、a notable topic both in the business and academic press. McWilliams and Siegel (2001) dene CSR as actions that appear to further some social good, beyond the interests of the rm and that which is required by law,. Examples of CSR include support of local businesses or charities, developing recycling
6、 programs, and promoting minority employment. Though these activities certainly result in societal benets, opinions differ as to whether a rms CSR activity enhances nancial performance. For instance, CSR has been described as beinglittle more than a cosmetic treatment, while an earlier article in th
7、e nancial press touted the economic advantages for companies practicing CSR. CSR has attracted the attention of mutual fund investors, including TIAA CREF, and a number of funds use CSR as a screening device for investment selection. However, any benets investors derive from including socially respo
8、nsible rms in their portfolios do not appear to be in form of superior returns. Bello (2005) matches socially responsible mutual funds to conventional funds in the late 1990s and nds no signicant difference in long-run investment performance or portfolio diversication between the two groups. Accordi
9、ng to Statman (2000), the Domini Social Index (DSI) did as well as the S&P 500 between 1990 and 1998. He nds that some socially responsible funds performed worse than the S&P 500 and the DSI, but fared no worse than conventional mutual funds during the time period. Academic research has examined the
10、 causal relation between CSR and nancial performance what is sometimes referred to as the virtuous circle to determine ifdoing good socially leads to doing well nancially, and whether rms exhibiting superior nancial performance devote more resources to social activities. Why should avirtuous circle
11、exist? Waddock and Graves (1997) suggest that positive stakeholder relationships can reduce the likelihood of difculty when dealing with groups such as employees, customers, and the community. In addition, good social performance and good managerial practice may be related, so this in turn may lead
12、to strong nancial performance. For instance, Cheng et al. (2006) nd that rms with strong shareholder rights tend to have a lower cost of equity capital than competing rms, which supports the idea that reducing agency problems between stakeholders and management improves nancial performance. Ferreira
13、 et al. (2008) nd that large rms benet in the form of positive long-run stock performance following certication of quality management. This suggests that in the case of large companies, good managerial practice does indeed improve the bottom line. The empirical evidence suggests that a virtuous circ
14、le exists. Waddock and Graves (1997) and Hillman and Keim (2001) nd that increased CSR leads to enhanced nancial performance and vice versa. McGuire et al. (1988) nd that prior years stock returns and accounting-based performance measures are related to current measures of CSR, but that a past recor
15、d of good social performance does not affect the current nancial performance of a rm. Despite the extensive body of research on CSR and nancial performance, we believe that additional analysis is warranted. In this study, we use alternative statistical techniques to provide new insights on the causa
16、l relationship between rm performance and CSR. The studies cited above and others on the topic have typically employed ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions with 1-year lagged values of one variable (e.g., CSR) used as determinants of the other (e.g., ROA). Indeed, we also nd that CSR and perform
17、ance are related when we use standard OLS regression models. However, in a time series xed effects approach with over 2,800 rm-year observations, we nd that the relation between CSR and nancial performance is much weaker than that documented in past studies. We also nd little evidence of causality b
18、etween nancial performance and narrower measures of social performance. Overall, we nd weak evidence that strong stock market performance leads to greater levels of CSR that focus specically on employee relations. However, CSR activity does not lead to changes in a rms nancial performance. This stud
19、y contributes to the literature on CSR in several ways. We use a more comprehensive time-series of CSR data relative to past studies. Also, previous research analyzing the link between CSR and nancial performance does not account for possible persistence or unobservable characteristics that may play
20、 a role in the level of CSR activity undertaken by a rm. We examine these important considerations by using Granger causality and controlling for rm xed-effects in our time series. We also use a Tobit specication for models of CSR causality to account for the censored nature of the data. Finally, ou
21、r specications also include analysis of narrow measures of social performance such as how the company treats employees, the environment, the community, and diversity issues. The use of appropriate statistical methods and examination of the components of CSR yield added insights regarding the relatio
22、n between CSR and nancial performance. To measure CSR, we use the KLD Socrates Database. This database rates companies on the various degrees of social responsibility including community participation, diversity, employee interests, environmental considerations, and shareholder interests. This index is superior to alternative measures of CSR because it is compiled by an independent rating service that focuses on a wide range of rms
