When Boards Matter: The Case of Corporate Social Irresponsibility

While academic research has made remarkable progress in understanding corporate social responsibility (CSR), we have scant understanding of corporate social irresponsibility (CSiR). This paper adopts a stakeholder‐agency perspective towards CSiR to ask two related questions: (1) What board‐level structures can monitor management to reduce CSiR? and (2) What are the conditions that render board monitoring more effective? Employing a unique objective measure of CSiR and a sophisticated system generalized method of moments with dynamic panel model on a sample of publicly listed firms in the USA between 2002 and 2015, this paper demonstrates how firms with a specific board‐level governance bundle (i.e. a large, more independent board, with a board CSR committee, a higher proportion of women within boards with frequent director activity) are better equipped to reduce irresponsible behaviours, both in terms of number of irresponsible incidents as well as in terms of their economic costs to the firm. Moreover, the effectiveness of this governance bundle sustains under conditions of high institutional ownership and high board remuneration. This paper has implications for CSR and corporate governance literatures, as well as for managers and policymakers.     

社会责任的信号作用——基于中国市场的研究

承担社会责任能否提升未来公司绩效一直是国内外学者关注的焦点,大部分研究认为履行社会责任有助于提升公司未来绩效,将社会责任视为一种价值投资。在控制了当期绩效因素对企业承担社会责任的影响后,本文发现：（1）承担社会责任不能提升公司未来财务绩效,仅能对企业未来股票回报产生正向影响;（2）当期经济绩效较好的企业,社会责任会对未来财务绩效产生正向影响,而当期经济绩效较差的企业,社会责任会对未来财务绩效产生负向影响。文章结果表明：当期绩效较差公司承担社会责任存在更大成本,当期绩效较好公司可以通过履行社会责任向市场传达信号使其与当期绩效较差公司区分,但此信号行为本身不对公司绩效存在影响。早期研究发现社会责任与未来公司财务绩效的正向关系很可能是因未考虑当期公司绩效同时正向影响当期公司社会责任履行程度和未来财务绩效而产生的伪相关关系。本文实证结果一定程度上对现有社会责任促进公司绩效的理论分析框架构成了挑战。     

企业社会责任信息披露、媒体关注度与企业财务绩效关系研究

基于我国A股上市公司发布的企业社会责任报告,在探究中国情境下企业社会责任信息披露、媒体关注度与企业财务绩效的相互关系后,发现企业社会责任信息披露与企业财务绩效之间存在相互制约和相互促进的关系。此外,验证了媒体关注度在社会责任信息披露和企业财务绩效的交互关系中存在中介效应。     

基于社会网络视角的企业社会责任行为相似性研究

本文利用国泰安数据库和锐思数据库中2010年-2012年的我国上市公司管理层数据、公司财务数据,以及润灵环球责任评级2010年-2012年我国A股上市公司的企业社会责任评级数据,从社会网络的角度出发,探索我国上市公司社会责任履行行为的相似性。研究结果发现,公司之间存在的社会网络会造成企业社会责任履行行为具有一定的相似性。当企业越是处于核心地位,越是容易传播信息,控制能力越强的时候,该公司同与之相关联的公司在社会责任履行行为方面越是具有相似性。这一结论为改善我国企业社会责任履行现状提供了一个全新的思考方向。     

Drivers of Corporate Social Responsibility: the Role of Formal Strategic Planning and Firm Culture

Scholars have paid considerable attention to studying the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and firm performance. Yet, little empirical research demonstrates what actually shapes or drives CSR. This paper builds a case that formal strategic planning is one such driver in that it creates awareness of and formulates responses to stakeholder demands for CSR. However, exploring single variable relationships is problematic, as other important endogenous factors need to be considered in explaining CSR. Specifically, firm culture is identified as influencing a firm's orientation towards the responsible treatment of stakeholders. One such cultural factor, humanistic culture, is argued to have a positive effect on CSR. By studying a sample of heterogeneous firms in Australia, results demonstrate that a formal strategic planning effort is positively linked to CSR. Further, a humanistic culture positively impacts CSR, after accounting for a firm's formal planning efforts.     

Social Identification and Corporate Irresponsibility: A Model of Stakeholder Punitive Intentions

Scholars hypothesize that retaliations against corporate social irresponsibility (CSI) are more likely when observers share the social identity of the victims. We present a model that explains in‐group bias against irresponsibility and identify collective narcissism as a moderator of this effect. Experiment 1 demonstrates that the effect of identity on retaliations is mediated by the perceived similarity of the victims which reinforces feelings of sympathy towards the victims and anger towards the corporation. These emotions drive stakeholders’ attitudes and retaliations. Our study shows that appraisals of the victims of CSI are an important antecedent of stakeholders’ emotions and behavioural intentions. Our evidence also demonstrates that sympathy, an emotion neglected by past research in this area, has a unique effect on individuals’ reactions. Experiment 2 demonstrates that social identity biases in individual punitive intentions are moderated by individuals’ level of collective narcissism. Collective narcissists see out‐group victims as very dissimilar from the self, whereas individuals with low levels of collective narcissism do not differentiate between victims of CSI on the basis of their identity. We extend knowledge on stakeholders’ reactions to CSI and offer insights to organizations promoting campaigns against irresponsible behaviour or managing the fallout from cases of corporate irresponsibility.     

政府管制与双寡头企业社会责任行为的博弈研究

企业不负责任行为同时受到政府管制和产品竞争的双重约束。本文构建了政府与双寡头企业的三阶段博弈模型,分析了政府偏好和政府执行力与政府治理企业不负责任行为的政策的关系,揭示了其中所蕴含的"政府偏好悖论"。研究表明:政府惩治企业不负责任行为的关键,是让企业从不负责任行为中所失大于所得;无论政府的偏好如何,都有可能放松对企业不负责任行为的管制,而且政府越偏好短期社会利益,就越不可能将不负责任的企业清除出市场;政府治理不负责任企业的矛盾心理,根源于企业不负责任行为的两面性。     

终极控制股东两权偏离与企业绩效:公司治理的中介作用

基于2004年～2006年中国上市公司截面数据,应用回归分析的方法,系统考察终极控制股东两权偏离、公司治理与企业绩效间的互动机理,检验公司治理在两权偏离与企业绩效关系中的中介效应.研究结果显示,终极控制股东两权偏离对公司价值具有显著的负向效应,其负向效应随终极控制股东现金流权比例的提高而趋于降低;终极控制股东两权偏离对公司治理具有显著的负向效应,其负向效应随终极控制股东现金流权比例的提高而趋于降低;公司治理对公司价值具有显著的正向效应,其在终极控制对公司价值的作用机制中具有显著的中介效应,中介效应占总效应的比例超过50%,终极控制股东现金流权比例的提高会降低公司治理的中介效应.基于实证分析结果,最后为优化公司治理提出相应的政策建议.     

外部环境、内部资源与企业社会责任

外部环境和内部资源如何影响企业履行社会责任?本文以中国制造业上市公司2011-2013年数据为样本,研究制度环境(舆论压力)和市场环境(竞争强度)对企业履行社会责任的影响,以及企业内部两种类型资源的调节作用。研究表明,舆论压力会促进企业履行社会责任,而竞争强度与企业履行社会责任呈"∩"形关系。进一步研究发现,企业资源(政治关系和冗余资源)正向调节外部环境对企业履行社会责任的影响。     

民营企业的社会责任、政治关联与债务融资——来自中国资本市场的经验证据

本文从民营企业社会责任战略性运用的角度,研究我国民营企业的政治关联、社会责任与债务融资之间的关系。对2008-2010年沪深两市A股民营上市公司的实证研究发现:我国民营企业中政治关联的确广泛存在,政治关联能给企业带来贷款、特别是长期贷款的融资便利,地方性政治关联与长期贷款的正向显著性比中央性政治关联更强;社会责任履行度越高越有助于民营企业获得贷款,并且企业社会责任的履行能够帮助企业建立政治联系。本研究为我国转轨经济时期民营企业寻求替代性机制来解决融资约束问题提供了实证证据。     

企业社会责任、媒体报道与股价崩盘风险

理论上企业披露社会责任信息既可能抑制股价崩盘风险,亦可能加剧股价崩盘风险;新闻媒体作为社会责任披露的重要载体在其中既可能弱化也可能强化这种影响,对这些问题的探讨是近年来公司金融领域研究的热点,但学者对当前的研究结果尚存在较多争论。鉴于此,本文首先在理论上导出社会责任披露对股价崩盘风险的双向作用机制,然后引入新闻媒体研究其可能的传导途径。基于我国A股市场所有上市公司2010-2018年面板数据的研究结果显示：上市公司通过披露企业社会责任指数能够显著降低股价崩盘风险;企业履行社会责任会显著增加媒体报道的数量,而媒体报道数量增加能够显著抑制股价崩盘风险,即媒体报道在企业社会责任影响股价崩盘风险的过程中起到中介作用;进一步的拓展研究发现：企业社会责任指数中的股东责任对股价崩盘风险影响最大,而供应商、客户和消费者权益、社会责任的影响不显著;与中性媒体报道相比,正面媒体报道和负面媒体报道的中介作用效果更强。     

Employee Volunteering and Social Capital: Contributions to Corporate Social Responsibility

As employee volunteering (EV) is increasingly regarded as a means of improving companies' community and employee relations, we investigate the contribution of EV to corporate social responsibility, specifically whether and how it contributes to social capital. We investigate the dynamics of EV in three UK companies. We explore the social relations and resources which underpin social capital creation; the roles of opportunity, motivation and ability in bringing the actors together and enhancing their capacity for cooperation; and the ways in which alternative EV modes inform the different dimensions of social capital – networks, trust and norms of cooperation. Our paper contributes to our understanding of EV and the factors that enable it to create social capital. Finally we assess the contribution of EV to the overall corporate social responsibility agenda of companies.     

企业社会责任与企业伦理关系分析

企业社会责任与企业伦理是何关系既是一个理论问题,也是一个现实问题。跳出仅仅从概念视角分析文献中实际采用的定义的局限,提出“3+2”的分析框架,即从三个视角(基本概念、学科领域和社会运动)、两个层面(现实层面和理论层面)分析企业社会责任和企业伦理的关系。分析表明:企业社会责任概念与企业伦理概念之间的关系,不同于企业社会责任领域与企业伦理领域之间的关系,也不同于企业社会责任运动与企业伦理运动之间的关系;同样是企业社会责任和企业伦理概念之间、领域之间和运动之间的关系,现实层面的关系和理论层面的关系也有差异;企业社会责任和企业伦理既非互不相干,亦非完全等同,也不是简单的一个包含另一个的关系,而是既有区别,又有联系的关系。     

The Primary Importance of Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethicality in Corporate Reputation: An Empirical Study

We examine three assumptions commonly held in the corporate reputation literature: (1) reputation ratings of owners and investors are generally representative of all stakeholders; (2) stakeholders will generally provide a higher reputation rating to firms that emphasize corporate social responsibility versus firms that do not; and (3) profitability is the primary criterion of importance to all stakeholders when rating a firm's reputation. Using an exploratory in‐class exercise, our findings suggest that: (1) there are significant differences among stakeholder groups in their reputation ratings; (2) firms that emphasize corporate social responsibility are not rated more highly across all stakeholder groups; and (3) for all stakeholder groups, the ethicality criterion explained more of the variance in firms' reputation ratings than the profitability criterion.     

Corporate Social Responsibility: A Complementary Perspective of Community and Corporate Leaders

Research studies on Corporate Social Responsibility (CRS) often focus on revealing corporate leaders’ attitudes toward various issues of CSR. The position of the present paper is that to understand CSR, we must grasp the collaborative perspective of CSR, and discern the attitudes of community leaders as well as corporate leaders. To this end, the study compares attitudes of community leaders with those of corporate leaders in three localities in Israel. The study examines various issues of CSR, highlighting the benefits to both community and corporation of reciprocal relations. Results from t‐tests confirmed significant differences between the groups. Some important implications for CSR particularly in terms of collaboration between community and corporation are discussed.