IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/corsem/v30y2023i2p720-741.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Corporate social responsibility and the alignment of CEO and shareholders wealth: Does a strong alignment induce or restrain CSR?

Author

Listed:
  • Hyeong Joon Kim
  • Seongjae Mun
  • Seung Hun Han

Abstract

We examine whether a strong alignment of the chief executive officer (CEO) and shareholders wealth induces or restrains the firm's corporate social responsibility (CSR) engagement. CSR can enhance shareholders wealth consistent with stakeholder theory. However, CEOs maximizing their own utilities have an incentive to overinvest corporate resources for CSR engagement at shareholders' expense. Therefore, the strong alignment of the CEO and shareholders wealth is expected to lead the CEO to engage less in some CSR activities, particularly those are questionable to enhance shareholders wealth or those are only good for the CEO's private benefit. Empirically, we find that firms with strongly aligned CEOs are less likely to strengthen CSR activities for external stakeholders such as the environment, community, and human rights. This suggests that strengthening CSR for external stakeholders appears to be the consequence of agency problem rather than stakeholder theory. Overall, we argue that CEO‐shareholders wealth alignment has a non‐monotonic impact on CSR activities, and it can effectively mitigate the agency problem by restraining overinvestment in some CSR activities that may harm shareholders wealth.

Suggested Citation

  • Hyeong Joon Kim & Seongjae Mun & Seung Hun Han, 2023. "Corporate social responsibility and the alignment of CEO and shareholders wealth: Does a strong alignment induce or restrain CSR?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(2), pages 720-741, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:corsem:v:30:y:2023:i:2:p:720-741
    DOI: 10.1002/csr.2384
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.2384
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/csr.2384?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jason Zhang & Hong Zhu & Hung-bin Ding, 2013. "Board Composition and Corporate Social Responsibility: An Empirical Investigation in the Post Sarbanes-Oxley Era," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 114(3), pages 381-392, May.
    2. Hoje Jo & Maretno Harjoto, 2011. "Corporate Governance and Firm Value: The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 103(3), pages 351-383, October.
    3. Biddle, Gary C. & Hilary, Gilles & Verdi, Rodrigo S., 2009. "How does financial reporting quality relate to investment efficiency?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(2-3), pages 112-131, December.
    4. Michael C. Jensen, 2010. "Value Maximization, Stakeholder Theory, and the Corporate Objective Function," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 22(1), pages 32-42, January.
    5. Ulrike Malmendier & Geoffrey Tate, 2005. "CEO Overconfidence and Corporate Investment," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(6), pages 2661-2700, December.
    6. Kun Su, 2019. "Does religion benefit corporate social responsibility (CSR)? Evidence from China," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(6), pages 1206-1221, November.
    7. Borghesi, Richard & Houston, Joel F. & Naranjo, Andy, 2014. "Corporate socially responsible investments: CEO altruism, reputation, and shareholder interests," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 164-181.
    8. Hirshleifer, David & Thakor, Anjan V, 1992. "Managerial Conservatism, Project Choice, and Debt," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 5(3), pages 437-470.
    9. Fatemi, Ali & Fooladi, Iraj & Tehranian, Hassan, 2015. "Valuation effects of corporate social responsibility," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 182-192.
    10. Roland Bénabou & Jean Tirole, 2010. "Individual and Corporate Social Responsibility," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 77(305), pages 1-19, January.
    11. Bae, Kee-Hong & El Ghoul, Sadok & Gong, Zhaoran (Jason) & Guedhami, Omrane, 2021. "Does CSR matter in times of crisis? Evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    12. Ferrell, Allen & Liang, Hao & Renneboog, Luc, 2016. "Socially responsible firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(3), pages 585-606.
    13. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    14. Robert C. Merton, 2005. "Theory of rational option pricing," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Sudipto Bhattacharya & George M Constantinides (ed.), Theory Of Valuation, chapter 8, pages 229-288, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    15. Habib Jouber, 2019. "How does CEO pay slice influence corporate social responsibility? U.S.–Canadian versus Spanish–French listed firms," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(2), pages 502-517, March.
    16. Walid Ben‐amar & Claude Francoeur & Sylvain Marsat & Aida Sijamic Wahid, 2021. "How do firms achieve corporate social performance? An integrated perspective," Post-Print hal-03223669, HAL.
    17. Ing-Haw Cheng & Harrison Hong & Kelly Shue, 2013. "Do Managers Do Good with Other People's Money?," NBER Working Papers 19432, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Larry G. Epstein & Stanley E. Zin, 2013. "Substitution, risk aversion and the temporal behavior of consumption and asset returns: A theoretical framework," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Leonard C MacLean & William T Ziemba (ed.), HANDBOOK OF THE FUNDAMENTALS OF FINANCIAL DECISION MAKING Part I, chapter 12, pages 207-239, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    19. Oleg V. Petrenko & Federico Aime & Jason Ridge & Aaron Hill, 2016. "Corporate social responsibility or CEO narcissism? CSR motivations and organizational performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(2), pages 262-279, February.
    20. Fernando, Chitru S. & Sharfman, Mark P. & Uysal, Vahap B., 2017. "Corporate Environmental Policy and Shareholder Value: Following the Smart Money," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 52(5), pages 2023-2051, October.
    21. Jensen, Michael C, 1986. "Agency Costs of Free Cash Flow, Corporate Finance, and Takeovers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(2), pages 323-329, May.
    22. Giovanni Cespa & Giacinta Cestone, 2007. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Managerial Entrenchment," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(3), pages 741-771, September.
    23. Jean McGuire & Jana Oehmichen & Michael Wolff & Roman Hilgers, 2019. "Do Contracts Make Them Care? The Impact of CEO Compensation Design on Corporate Social Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 157(2), pages 375-390, June.
    24. Canil, Jean, 2017. "Non-dividend protected executive options and dividend policy: Evidence from SFAS 123R," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 15-33.
    25. Deng, Xin & Kang, Jun-koo & Low, Buen Sin, 2013. "Corporate social responsibility and stakeholder value maximization: Evidence from mergers," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(1), pages 87-109.
    26. Ye Cai & Hoje Jo & Carrie Pan, 2012. "Doing Well While Doing Bad? CSR in Controversial Industry Sectors," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 108(4), pages 467-480, July.
    27. Lucian Arye Bebchuk & Jesse M. Fried, 2003. "Executive Compensation as an Agency Problem," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 17(3), pages 71-92, Summer.
    28. Walid Ben‐Amar & Claude Francoeur & Sylvain Marsat & Aida Sijamic Wahid, 2021. "How do firms achieve corporate social performance? An integrated perspective," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(3), pages 1078-1090, May.
    29. Rui Albuquerque & Yrjö Koskinen & Chendi Zhang, 2019. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Risk: Theory and Empirical Evidence," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(10), pages 4451-4469, October.
    30. Ki‐Hoon Lee, 2011. "Motivations, barriers, and incentives for adopting environmental management (cost) accounting and related guidelines: a study of the republic of Korea," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 18(1), pages 39-49, January.
    31. Chih‐Wei Peng, 2020. "The role of business strategy and CEO compensation structure in driving corporate social responsibility: Linkage towards a sustainable development perspective," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(2), pages 1028-1039, March.
    32. Cronqvist, Henrik & Yu, Frank, 2017. "Shaped by their daughters: Executives, female socialization, and corporate social responsibility," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(3), pages 543-562.
    33. Lambert, Ra & Larcker, Df & Verrecchia, Re, 1991. "Portfolio Considerations In Valuing Executive-Compensation," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(1), pages 129-149.
    34. El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane & Kwok, Chuck C.Y. & Mishra, Dev R., 2011. "Does corporate social responsibility affect the cost of capital?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(9), pages 2388-2406, September.
    35. Caroline Flammer & Bryan Hong & Dylan Minor, 2019. "Corporate governance and the rise of integrating corporate social responsibility criteria in executive compensation: Effectiveness and implications for firm outcomes," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(7), pages 1097-1122, July.
    36. Douglas Cumming & Wenxuan Hou & Edward Lee, 2016. "Business Ethics and Finance in Greater China: Synthesis and Future Directions in Sustainability, CSR, and Fraud," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 138(4), pages 601-626, November.
    37. Henri Servaes & Ane Tamayo, 2013. "The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Firm Value: The Role of Customer Awareness," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 59(5), pages 1045-1061, May.
    38. Joshua D. Anderson & John E. Core, 2018. "Managerial Incentives to Increase Risk Provided by Debt, Stock, and Options," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(9), pages 4408-4432, September.
    39. Core, John & Guay, Wayne, 1999. "The use of equity grants to manage optimal equity incentive levels," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 151-184, December.
    40. Black, Fischer & Scholes, Myron S, 1973. "The Pricing of Options and Corporate Liabilities," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 81(3), pages 637-654, May-June.
    41. Karl V. Lins & Henri Servaes & Ane Tamayo, 2017. "Social Capital, Trust, and Firm Performance: The Value of Corporate Social Responsibility during the Financial Crisis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 72(4), pages 1785-1824, August.
    42. Baron, David P., 2008. "Managerial contracting and corporate social responsibility," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(1-2), pages 268-288, February.
    43. Bum-Jin Park & Ki-Hoon Lee, 2021. "The sensitivity of corporate social performance to corporate financial performance: A “time-based†agency theory perspective," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 46(2), pages 224-247, May.
    44. Ki‐Hoon Lee & David M. Herold & Ae‐Li Yu, 2016. "Small and Medium Enterprises and Corporate Social Responsibility Practice: A Swedish Perspective," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(2), pages 88-99, March.
    45. Di Giuli, Alberta & Kostovetsky, Leonard, 2014. "Are red or blue companies more likely to go green? Politics and corporate social responsibility," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(1), pages 158-180.
    46. Maretno Harjoto & Hoje Jo, 2011. "Corporate Governance and CSR Nexus," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 100(1), pages 45-67, April.
    47. Ferrell, A. & Liang, Hao & Renneboog, Luc, 2016. "Socially responsible firms," Other publications TiSEM 07e115ac-fdcb-4c4b-a0b8-a, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    48. Bebchuk, Lucian A. & Fried, Jesse M., 2003. "Executive Compensation as an Agency Problem," Berkeley Olin Program in Law & Economics, Working Paper Series qt81q3136r, Berkeley Olin Program in Law & Economics.
    49. Amir Barnea & Amir Rubin, 2010. "Corporate Social Responsibility as a Conflict Between Shareholders," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 97(1), pages 71-86, November.
    50. Mikko Manner, 2010. "The Impact of CEO Characteristics on Corporate Social Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 93(1), pages 53-72, June.
    51. Alex Edmans & Xavier Gabaix & Augustin Landier, 2009. "A Multiplicative Model of Optimal CEO Incentives in Market Equilibrium," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(12), pages 4881-4917, December.
    52. Michael Mayberry, 2020. "Good for managers, bad for society? Causal evidence on the association between risk‐taking incentives and corporate social responsibility," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(9-10), pages 1182-1214, October.
    53. Hoje Jo & Haejung Na, 2012. "Does CSR Reduce Firm Risk? Evidence from Controversial Industry Sectors," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 110(4), pages 441-456, November.
    54. Campbell, T. Colin & Gallmeyer, Michael & Johnson, Shane A. & Rutherford, Jessica & Stanley, Brooke W., 2011. "CEO optimism and forced turnover," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(3), pages 695-712, September.
    55. Hayes, Rachel M. & Lemmon, Michael & Qiu, Mingming, 2012. "Stock options and managerial incentives for risk taking: Evidence from FAS 123R," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(1), pages 174-190.
    56. Michele Fabrizi & Christine Mallin & Giovanna Michelon, 2014. "The Role of CEO’s Personal Incentives in Driving Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 124(2), pages 311-326, October.
    57. Mao, Connie X. & Zhang, Chi, 2018. "Managerial Risk-Taking Incentive and Firm Innovation: Evidence from FAS 123R," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 53(2), pages 867-898, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jongwon Park & Sunyoung Kim & Albert Tsang, 2023. "CEO Personal Hedging and Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 182(1), pages 199-221, January.
    2. Dunbar, Craig & Li, Zhichuan (Frank) & Shi, Yaqi, 2020. "CEO risk-taking incentives and corporate social responsibility," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    3. Li, Chengcheng & Wang, Xiaoqiong, 2022. "Local peer effects of corporate social responsibility," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    4. Gillan, Stuart L. & Koch, Andrew & Starks, Laura T., 2021. "Firms and social responsibility: A review of ESG and CSR research in corporate finance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    5. Michael Mayberry, 2020. "Good for managers, bad for society? Causal evidence on the association between risk‐taking incentives and corporate social responsibility," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(9-10), pages 1182-1214, October.
    6. Bu, Luofan & Chan, Kam C. & Choi, Ahrum & Zhou, Gaoguang, 2021. "Talented inside directors and corporate social responsibility: A tale of two roles," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    7. Jie Chen & Xicheng Liu & Wei Song, 2018. "CEO general managerial skills and corporate social responsibility," Working Papers 2018-16, Swansea University, School of Management.
    8. Zhang, Zhuang & Chizema, Amon & Kuo, Jing-Ming & Zhang, Qingjing, 2022. "Managerial risk-reducing incentives and social and exchange capital," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(6).
    9. Liu, Xianda & Hou, Wenxuan & Main, Brian G.M., 2022. "Anti-market sentiment and corporate social responsibility: Evidence from anti-Jewish pogroms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    10. David C. Broadstock & Shunsuke Managi & Roman Matousek & Nickolaos G. Tzeremes, 2019. "Does doing “good” always translate into doing “well”? An eco‐efficiency perspective," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(6), pages 1199-1217, September.
    11. Chowdhury, Hasibul & Hodgson, Allan & Hasan, Mostafa Monzur, 2022. "Does a competitive external labour market affect corporate social responsibility? Evidence from industry tournament incentives," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(C).
    12. Buchanan, Bonnie G. & Cao, Cathy Xuying & Wang, Shuhui, 2021. "Corporate social responsibility and inside debt: The long game," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    13. Paul B. McGuinness & João Paulo Vieito & Mingzhu Wang, 2020. "Proactive government intervention, board gender balance, and stakeholder engagement in China and Europe," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 37(3), pages 719-762, September.
    14. Claire Economidou & Dimitrios Gounopoulos & Dimitrios Konstantios & Emmanuel Tsiritakis, 2023. "Is sustainability rating material to the market?," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 52(1), pages 127-179, March.
    15. Gary Chen & Bin Wang & Xiaohong Wang, 2021. "Corporate social responsibility and information flow," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(2), pages 2759-2807, June.
    16. Boubaker, Sabri & Chebbi, Kaouther & Grira, Jocelyn, 2020. "Top management inside debt and corporate social responsibility? Evidence from the US," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 98-115.
    17. Hans B. Christensen & Luzi Hail & Christian Leuz, 2021. "Mandatory CSR and sustainability reporting: economic analysis and literature review," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 1176-1248, September.
    18. Amin, Abu & Chourou, Lamia & Kamal, Syed & Malik, Mahfuja & Zhao, Yang, 2020. "It’s who you know that counts: Board connectedness and CSR performance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    19. Fafaliou, Irene & Giaka, Maria & Konstantios, Dimitrios & Polemis, Michael, 2022. "Firms’ ESG reputational risk and market longevity: A firm-level analysis for the United States," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 161-177.
    20. Chen, Jie & Liu, Xicheng & Song, Wei & Zhou, Si, 2020. "General managerial skills and corporate social responsibility," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 43-59.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:corsem:v:30:y:2023:i:2:p:720-741. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1002/(ISSN)1535-3966 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.