Purpose The paper aims to investigate whether firms invest in corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a risk protection mechanism as the response to increased geopolitical risk (GPR). Design/methodology/approach The sample of this study includes non-financial listed firms on the Chinese stock market over 2000–2016. Several measures of CSR and GPR were used to examine the relationship between two factors. Further investigation is conducted to find out how increasing uncertainty in the business environment in both geopolitics and macroeconomic policy affects corporate decision-making regarding CSR. Findings GPR has a significant and positive effect on CSR, meaning that Chinese firms use CSR investment as an insurance mechanism against uncertainty arising from heightened geopolitical uncertainty. Further analysis indicates a negative joint effect of GPR and uncertainty in macroeconomic policy on CSR and shows that it can exhaust firms’ resources and offset their individual positive impacts on CSR at the extreme level of uncertainty. The findings are robust to the choices of proxies, model specifications and endogeneity concerns. Originality/value This study sheds light on the existing literature by providing empirical evidence on the positive relationship between GPR and CSR. The findings of this study support the risk management view, in which firms engage more in CSR as a form of insurance mechanism to react to geopolitical uncertainty. This is also the first empirical study investigating the joint effect of GPR and economic policy uncertainty on CSR.

This study used an online survey of a sample of sexual minority Vietnamese women ( N = 302, Mean = 21.23) who self-identified as lesbian (48.7%), bisexual (42.2%), and other (8.9%). The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship among self-disclosure, internalized homophobia, and symptoms of depression. This topic has never before been studied in Vietnam. Structural equation modeling indicates that a higher level of self-disclosure with friends and coworkers leads to less self-stigmatization and less sexual prejudice. In addition, sexual minority women’s self-disclosure affects all three aspects of depression (negative affect, positive affect, and interpersonal relationships).

This paper examines the effect of corporate tax avoidance on firm value using a sample of Vietnamese nonfinancial listed firms for the period 2007 to 2018. Using fixed effect, ordinary least square and system generalized method of moment estimation, the results show a positive and statistically significant relationship between corporate tax avoidance and firm value. Our result demonstrates the bright side of corporate tax avoidance at the firm level. Further analysis shows that the positive effect of corporate tax avoidance on firm value can be intensified by the effectiveness of the board of directors in monitoring management.