论企业社会绩效与财务绩效关系研究的分歧

企业社会绩效与财务绩效之间的关系是企业社会责任领域的研究重点。多数研究认为两者间是正相关的,少数研究认为是负相关或无关的。对于两者间的因果关系,有的认为是社会绩效影响财务绩效,有的认为是财务绩效影响社会绩效,有的则认为两者存在协同关系,并分别从社会影响、资金提供、管理者机会主义等角度来阐释两者关系的影响因素。造成研究结论分歧的主要原因在于绩效的衡量、样本和模型变量的选择,今后的研究必须从这三方面加以改进,以提高实证分析的解释力和可信度。

Different conclusions in the Studies of Correlations between Corporate Social Performance and Financial Performance

The relations between corporate social performance(CSP) and corporate financial performance(CFP) attract much attention in the study of corporate social responsibility.Most studies confirm that there is a positive correlation between CSP and CFP whereas a small number of studies support the opposite conclusion or argue that there is no correlation at all.As to the causal relationship between the two,some argue that CSP affects CFP,some believe otherwise,and others assert that they interact and coordinate.Advocates of each argument try to explain their relations from various perspectives,such as social influence,financial support,and managerial opportunism.This paper argues that the causes for such different conclusions lie in the tools of measurement,the choice of samples and modeling variables for CSP and CFP.These three determinants,it is argued,must be carefully studied before conducting empirical research on the CSP-CFP relations with a view to produce findings that are more explanatory credible.