The Relationship Between Corporate Social Responsibility And Corporate Financial Performance – Evidence From Empirical Studies

Abstract

<jats:p>Socially responsible investment (SRI) has experienced strong growth in recent years. In 2012, $1 out of every $9 US assets under professional management was invested in some form of sustainable investment. Global sustainable investment assets have expanded dramatically, rising from $13.3 trillion at the outset of 2012 to reach a total of $21.4 trillion at the start of 2014. Most of the SRI assets are in Europe (63.7 percent), but the relative contribution of the United States has increased from 28.2 percent in 2012 to 30.8 percent in 2014, and over this two-year period, the fastest growing region has been the United States, followed by Canada and Europe. These three regions are also the largest regions in terms of assets, accounting for 99 percent of global SRI.With this growth one most important issues is whether it pays for organizations to concern themselves with social responsibility, and whether there are any tradeoffs to sustainable investing. Much of the present research on this question is based on the views of Friedman and Freeman. But changes in economic development, national and local security, and the growing expectations of stakeholders influence how social performance is defined, and thus corporate performance as well.The aim of this article is to examine correlations between CSR and financial corporate performance, based on empirical studies conducted by other authors in different countries. In total, the analysis comprises 53 studies and the results obtained for 16,119 companies.</jats:p>

Firm Characteristics and Corporate Social Responsibility: The Case of Czech Transportation and Storage Industry

“…Several authors measured CSR against the Tobin q indicator, which under certain conditions can be understood as a ratio of the market price of a share to its book value, and again reached positive conclusions [14]. Positive effects of socially responsible activities on the financial performance of the company were also shown in other studies [5,[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24].…”

Measuring Territorial Social Responsibility and Sustainability Using the EFQM Excellence Model

“…Therefore, for the EFQM model to be useful in assessing territorial sustainability, it was necessary to adjust the criteria and results. This adaptation was firstly based on the analysis of the literature concerning the impact that the different criteria included in the model could have on SD and CSR, for example [5][6][7][8]10,[22][23][24][25][26].…”

“…To date, there is no universal or academically accepted definition of CSR, as Mikołajek-Gocejna [10] explains. However, one of the most widely-used definitions is that of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), according to which CSR is "the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large" [11].…”

“…Today, these policies are understood as a much broader concept which includes sustainable development, defined by the 2030 Agenda as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" [17]. To expand the comprehension and applicability of the contemporary CSR construct, scholars such as Mikołajek-Gocejna [10] have embraced the ESG factors (environment, society and governance) and refer to "sustainability or sustainable development, which encompasses social welfare, protection of the environment, efficient use of natural resources, and economic well-being" [10], (p. 70).…”

A Review of Theoretical Perspectives on CSR Among Family Enterprises

“…The idea that firms ought to be ethical towards society beyond profits was primarily identified in Bowen’s (1953) Social Responsibilities of the Businessman , which is one of the most cited definitions of CSR (Grzeda & Rowden, 2014; Mikolajek-Gocejna, 2016). Bowen posited the question on what responsibilities should businesses have towards society and argued that such is primarily the obligation of enterprises to pursue policies and actions that is desirable to the objectives and values of the society (Bowen, 1953).…”