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CSR performance and firm idiosyncratic risk in a data-rich environment: The role of retail investor attention

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  • He, Feng
  • Liu, Guanchun
  • Hao, Jing
  • Li, Youwei

Abstract

In the Chinese stock market, there are many retail investors who focus on short-term profits and may consider corporate social responsibility (CSR) differently from institutional investors. We find that CSR significantly reduces firms’ idiosyncratic risk in the Chinese financial market. This result still holds after a series of robustness checks with potential endogeneity concerns. We further test the role of CSR as a nonfinancial informational supplement, the interplay of CSR with stock analyst forecasts and the effect of heterogeneity in corporate governance characteristics. Finally, we find that retail investors’ attention mediates the relationship between CSR and firms’ idiosyncratic risk. Our results have general implications for understanding the impact of CSR on retail investors.

Suggested Citation

  • He, Feng & Liu, Guanchun & Hao, Jing & Li, Youwei, 2023. "CSR performance and firm idiosyncratic risk in a data-rich environment: The role of retail investor attention," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:intfin:v:89:y:2023:i:c:s1042443123001452
    DOI: 10.1016/j.intfin.2023.101877
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    CSR; Idiosyncratic risk; Retail investor attention; Chinese financial market;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M14 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Corporate Culture; Diversity; Social Responsibility
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading

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