The relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate financial performance (CFP) has long been a central and contentious debate in the literature. However, prior empirical studies provide indefinite conclusions. The purpose of this study is to review systematically and quantify the CSR–CFP link in a meta-analytic framework. Based on 119 effect sizes from 42 studies, this study estimates that the overall effect size of the CSR–CFP relationship is positive and significant, thus endorsing the argument that CSR does enhance financial performance. Furthermore, this work sheds light on the causal relationship between CSR and CFP. Subsequent financial performance is associated with prior social responsibility, while the reverse direction is not supported. This finding supports the instrumental stakeholder theory. As predicted, the meta-analysis results indicate that the measurement strategies of the two key constructs of CSR and CFP explain some variations of the CSR–CFP relationship. Last, this study examines the moderating effect of the environmental context on the CSR–CFP link. This work proposes that CSR in the developed world, with a relatively mature institutional system and efficient market mechanism, will be more visible than CSR in the developing world. The results show that the CSR–CFP relationship is stronger for firms from advanced economies than for firms from developing economies.

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This article follows recent development on the socioemotional wealth perspective to examine the impact of family involvement on corporate charitable donations. Based on data collected from 2,821 Chinese private firms, we find that (a) family ownership and the duration of family control positively affect charitable donations and (b) when the next generation is unwilling to take over the business, the positive relationship between family ownership and charitable donations becomes weaker. These findings show that firms’ proactive stakeholder engagement is susceptible to family involvement. They also highlight the possible existence of the “dark” effect of certain socioemotional wealth dimensions on firms’ proactive stakeholder engagement.

This study examined how, from the family business advisor's perspective, knowledge sharing among external individual advisors can affect the quality of services provided to the family business client. Using qualitative research methods, we found that knowledge sharing improved the quality of advising services through four mechanisms: (a) by improving the accuracy of issue identification, (b) by achieving a systematic analysis of the issue, (c) by arriving at an integrated total solution, and (d) by increasing the credibility of the provided solution. This study has important implications for literature in the field of family business advising, as it explains the underlying mechanisms through which knowledge sharing among individual external advisors enhances the quality of advising services.

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