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Corporate social responsibility, corporate financial performance and the confounding effects of economic fluctuations: A meta-analysis

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  • Huang, Kaixing
  • Sim, Nicholas
  • Zhao, Hong

Abstract

Due to public concerns and regulatory forces, managers are paying increasingly more attention to corporate social responsibility (CSR). Efforts to improve CSR are widely believed to be beneficial for increasing a firm's value; yet, evidence on how CSR affects corporate financial performance (CFP) has been mixed. To understand why the literature has been divided on the impact of CSR on CFP, we carry out a meta-analysis based on 437 primary studies. We discover that among various factors, much of the disagreement in the literature can be traced to the confounding influence of macro-level economic fluctuations, which were often overlooked by CSR-CFP studies. We show that if the primary studies are either unconfounded by economic fluctuations, or have addressed them econometrically, the non-consensus in the literature can be reconciled and the true positive effect of CSR on CFP can be observed.

Suggested Citation

  • Huang, Kaixing & Sim, Nicholas & Zhao, Hong, 2020. "Corporate social responsibility, corporate financial performance and the confounding effects of economic fluctuations: A meta-analysis," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finana:v:70:y:2020:i:c:s1057521920301484
    DOI: 10.1016/j.irfa.2020.101504
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    Cited by:

    1. Patrick Velte, 2022. "Meta-analyses on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): a literature review," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 72(3), pages 627-675, September.
    2. Abhishek Behl & P. S. Raghu Kumari & Harnesh Makhija & Dipasha Sharma, 2022. "Exploring the relationship of ESG score and firm value using cross-lagged panel analyses: case of the Indian energy sector," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 313(1), pages 231-256, June.
    3. Al-Shaer, Habiba & Uyar, Ali & Kuzey, Cemil & Karaman, Abdullah S., 2023. "Do shareholders punish or reward excessive CSR engagement? Moderating effect of cash flow and firm growth," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    4. Thanh Tiep Le & Marcos Ferasso, 2022. "How green investment drives sustainable business performance for food manufacturing small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises? Evidence from an emerging economy," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(4), pages 1034-1049, July.
    5. Romec, Arthur, 2023. "Stakeholder orientation and managerial incentives: Evidence from a natural experiment," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    6. Dodd, Olga & Frijns, Bart & Garel, Alexandre, 2022. "Cultural diversity among directors and corporate social responsibility," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    7. Kumari Juddoo & Issam Malki & Sudha Mathew & Sheeja Sivaprasad, 2023. "An impact investment strategy," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 61(1), pages 177-211, July.
    8. Huang, Jingjing, 2022. "Corporate social responsibility and financial performance: The moderating role of the turnover of local officials," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 46(PB).
    9. He, Feng & Du, Hanyu & Yu, Bo, 2022. "Corporate ESG performance and manager misconduct: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    10. Mehran Nejati & Azadeh Shafaei, 2023. "Why do employees respond differently to corporate social responsibility? A study of substantive and symbolic corporate social responsibility," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(4), pages 2066-2080, July.
    11. Hüseyin Temiz & Merve Acar, 2023. "Board gender diversity and corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure in different disclosure environments," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(5), pages 2247-2264, September.
    12. Lin Zhang & Xiaochen Zhang & Jingjing An & Wei Zhang & Jingshen Yao, 2022. "Examining the Role of Stakeholder-Oriented Corporate Governance in Achieving Sustainable Development: Evidence from the SME CSR in the Context of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-22, July.
    13. Ayton, Julie & Krasnikova, Natalia & Malki, Issam, 2022. "Corporate social performance and financial risk: Further empirical evidence using higher frequency data," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    14. Xiaoyang Xu & Muhammad Imran & Muhammad Ayaz & Sonia Lohana, 2022. "The Mediating Role of Green Technology Innovation with Corporate Social Responsibility, Firm Financial, and Environmental Performance: The Case of Chinese Manufacturing Industries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-20, December.
    15. Li Xiong & Xiaoliang Long & Zhaoran Xu, 2022. "Cumulative Effect, Targeted Poverty Alleviation, and Firm Value: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-17, July.
    16. Guillermo Badía & Fernando Gómez‐Bezares & Luis Ferruz, 2022. "Are investments in material corporate social responsibility issues a key driver of financial performance?," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(3), pages 3987-4011, September.
    17. Jiafeng Gu, 2023. "Firm Performance and Corporate Social Responsibility: Spatial Context and Effect Mechanism," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(1), pages 21582440231, January.
    18. Bhaskar, Ratikant & Li, Peigong & Bansal, Shashank & Kumar, Satish, 2023. "A new insight on CEO characteristics and corporate social responsibility (CSR): A meta-analytical review," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    19. Pengcheng Tang & Xuan Liu & Yao Hong & Shuwang Yang, 2023. "Moving beyond economic criteria: Exploring the social impact of green innovation from the stakeholder management perspective," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(3), pages 1042-1052, May.
    20. Julien Lachuer & Sami Ben Jabeur, 2022. "Explainable artificial intelligence modeling for corporate social responsibility and financial performance," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 23(7), pages 619-630, December.
    21. Jyotirani Gupta & Niladri Das, 2022. "Multidimensional corporate social responsibility disclosure and financial performance: A meta‐analytical review," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(4), pages 731-748, July.
    22. Soliman, Marwa & Ben-Amar, Walid, 2022. "Corporate social responsibility orientation and textual features of financial disclosures," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    23. Alatawi, Ibrahim A. & Ntim, Collins G. & Zras, Anis & Elmagrhi, Mohamed H., 2023. "CSR, financial and non-financial performance in the tourism sector: A systematic literature review and future research agenda," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    24. Jiangjun Li & Tao Fu & Shengyue Han & Rui Liang, 2023. "Exploring the Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Financial Performance: The Moderating Role of Media Attention," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-16, March.

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