IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/rqfnac/v64y2025i1d10.1007_s11156-024-01298-w.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does risk management moderate the relationship between CEO power and corporate philanthropy?

Author

Listed:
  • Mike Adams

    (University of Bath)

  • Wei Jiang

    (University of Manchester)

  • Siqi Liu

    (The Open University Business School, The Open University)

Abstract

By integrating upper echelons, agency, and stakeholder theories, we examine the relationship between CEO power and charitable cash donations. Utilizing a novel hand-collected dataset from the UK's insurance industry, our focus lies particularly on how risk management influences this relationship. We find that CEO power is positively related to charitable giving. However, alternative risk mitigation strategies play a moderating role in the CEO power-donations relationship, suggesting that in firms with alternative risk management strategies, CEOs are less likely to advocate for corporate giving as a method to mitigate business risks. Our results are robust to various endogeneity checks and alternative measures of CEO power. Our paper enriches the comprehension of the motives driving corporate philanthropy.

Suggested Citation

  • Mike Adams & Wei Jiang & Siqi Liu, 2025. "Does risk management moderate the relationship between CEO power and corporate philanthropy?," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 64(1), pages 53-87, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:rqfnac:v:64:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s11156-024-01298-w
    DOI: 10.1007/s11156-024-01298-w
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11156-024-01298-w
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11156-024-01298-w?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Renée Birgit Adams & Renée Birgit Adams & Daniel Ferreira, 2012. "Regulatory Pressure and Bank Directors’ Incentives to Attend Board Meetings," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 12(2), pages 227-248, June.
    2. Lucian A. Bebchuk & Michael S. Weisbach, 2012. "The State of Corporate Governance Research," Springer Books, in: Sabri Boubaker & Bang Dang Nguyen & Duc Khuong Nguyen (ed.), Corporate Governance, edition 127, pages 325-346, Springer.
    3. Hong, Harrison & Kostovetsky, Leonard, 2012. "Red and blue investing: Values and finance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(1), pages 1-19.
    4. Yuan Yuan & Gaoliang Tian & Louise Yi Lu & Yangxin Yu, 2019. "CEO Ability and Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 157(2), pages 391-411, June.
    5. Guest, Paul M., 2008. "The determinants of board size and composition: Evidence from the UK," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 51-72, February.
    6. 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.
    7. Yi Tang & Cuili Qian & Guoli Chen & Rui Shen, 2015. "How CEO hubris affects corporate social (ir)responsibility," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(9), pages 1338-1357, September.
    8. Armstrong, Christopher S. & Guay, Wayne R. & Weber, Joseph P., 2010. "The role of information and financial reporting in corporate governance and debt contracting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 179-234, December.
    9. Sariol, Ana M. & Abebe, Michael A., 2017. "The influence of CEO power on explorative and exploitative organizational innovation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 38-45.
    10. Divya Kirti & Natasha Sarin, 2024. "What Private Equity Does Differently: Evidence from Life Insurance," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 37(1), pages 201-230.
    11. Jordi Surroca & Josep A. Tribó, 2008. "Managerial Entrenchment and Corporate Social Performance," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(5‐6), pages 748-789, June.
    12. 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.
    13. McCarthy, Scott & Oliver, Barry & Song, Sizhe, 2017. "Corporate social responsibility and CEO confidence," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 280-291.
    14. Cassandra R. Cole & Enya He & Kathleen A. McCullough & Anastasia Semykina & David W. Sommer, 2011. "An Empirical Examination of Stakeholder Groups as Monitoring Sources in Corporate Governance," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 78(3), pages 703-730, September.
    15. Sudipta Bose & Amitav Saha & Indra Abeysekera, 2020. "The Value Relevance of Corporate Social Responsibility Expenditure: Evidence from Regulatory Decisions," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 56(4), pages 455-494, December.
    16. Dow, James, 2013. "Boards, CEO entrenchment, and the cost of capital," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(3), pages 680-695.
    17. 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.
    18. Cheung, Adrian (Wai Kong), 2016. "Corporate social responsibility and corporate cash holdings," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 412-430.
    19. Brookman, Jeff & Thistle, Paul D., 2009. "CEO tenure, the risk of termination and firm value," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 15(3), pages 331-344, June.
    20. Brown, William O. & Helland, Eric & Smith, Janet Kiholm, 2006. "Corporate philanthropic practices," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 12(5), pages 855-877, December.
    21. Giroud, Xavier & Mueller, Holger M., 2010. "Does corporate governance matter in competitive industries?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(3), pages 312-331, March.
    22. Jordi Surroca & Josep A. Tribó, 2008. "Managerial Entrenchment and Corporate Social Performance," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(5‐6), pages 748-789, June.
    23. Cornett, Marcia Millon & Erhemjamts, Otgontsetseg & Tehranian, Hassan, 2016. "Greed or good deeds: An examination of the relation between corporate social responsibility and the financial performance of U.S. commercial banks around the financial crisis," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 137-159.
    24. Mike Adams & Philip Hardwick, 1998. "An Analysis of Corporate Donations: United Kingdom Evidence," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(5), pages 641-654, September.
    25. Wu, Meng-Wen & Shen, Chung-Hua, 2013. "Corporate social responsibility in the banking industry: Motives and financial performance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 3529-3547.
    26. Lys, Thomas & Naughton, James P. & Wang, Clare, 2015. "Signaling through corporate accountability reporting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 56-72.
    27. Renée B. Adams & Heitor Almeida & Daniel Ferreira, 2005. "Powerful CEOs and Their Impact on Corporate Performance," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 18(4), pages 1403-1432.
    28. Ronald W. Masulis & Syed Walid Reza, 2015. "Agency Problems of Corporate Philanthropy," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 28(2), pages 592-636.
    29. Habiba Al-Shaer & Khaldoon Albitar & Jia Liu, 2023. "CEO power and CSR-linked compensation for corporate environmental responsibility: UK evidence," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 60(3), pages 1025-1063, April.
    30. Chikh, Sabrina & Filbien, Jean-Yves, 2011. "Acquisitions and CEO power: Evidence from French networks," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(5), pages 1221-1236.
    31. Veprauskaitė, Elena & Adams, Mike, 2013. "Do powerful chief executives influence the financial performance of UK firms?," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 229-241.
    32. Ping-Sheng Koh & Cuili Qian & Heli Wang, 2014. "Firm litigation risk and the insurance value of corporate social performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(10), pages 1464-1482, October.
    33. Sabrina Chikh & Jean-Yves Filbien, 2011. "Acquisitions and CEO power: Evidence from French networks," Post-Print hal-04409537, HAL.
    34. Philip Hardwick & Mike Adams & Hong Zou, 2011. "Board Characteristics and Profit Efficiency in the United Kingdom Life Insurance Industry," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(7-8), pages 987-1015, September.
    35. Peter Wright & Stephen P. Ferris, 1997. "Agency Conflict And Corporate Strategy: The Effect Of Divestment On Corporate Value," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(1), pages 77-83, January.
    36. McGuinness, Paul B. & Vieito, João Paulo & Wang, Mingzhu, 2017. "The role of board gender and foreign ownership in the CSR performance of Chinese listed firms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 75-99.
    37. Adams, Mike & Hoejmose, Stefan & Kastrinaki, Zafeira, 2017. "Corporate Philanthropy and Risk Management: An Investigation of Reinsurance and Charitable Giving in Insurance Firms," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 27(1), pages 1-37, January.
    38. Jiraporn, P. & Chintrakarn, P., 2013. "How do powerful CEOs view corporate social responsibility (CSR)? An empirical note," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 119(3), pages 344-347.
    39. Hu, Aidong & Kumar, Praveen, 2004. "Managerial Entrenchment and Payout Policy," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 39(4), pages 759-790, December.
    40. Baruch Lev & Christine Petrovits & Suresh Radhakrishnan, 2010. "Is doing good good for you? how corporate charitable contributions enhance revenue growth," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(2), pages 182-200, February.
    41. Paul C. Godfrey & Craig B. Merrill & Jared M. Hansen, 2009. "The relationship between corporate social responsibility and shareholder value: an empirical test of the risk management hypothesis," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 425-445, 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. Koo, KwangJoo (KJ) & Kim, Jae B., 2025. "Managerial pessimism and investment in corporate social responsibility," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    2. 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.
    3. Liu, Haiming & Chiang, Yao-Min, 2024. "Employment protection and environmental corporate social responsibility: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    4. 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).
    5. Zhu, Minghao & Yeung, Andy C.L. & Zhou, Honggeng, 2021. "Diversify or concentrate: The impact of customer concentration on corporate social responsibility," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).
    6. Shan Xu & Panyi Ma, 2022. "CEOs’ Poverty Experience and Corporate Social Responsibility: Are CEOs Who Have Experienced Poverty More Generous?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 180(2), pages 747-776, October.
    7. Hossain, Ashrafee Tanvir & Kryzanowski, Lawrence, 2021. "Political corruption and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C).
    8. 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.
    9. Yuan Yuan & Gaoliang Tian & Louise Yi Lu & Yangxin Yu, 2019. "CEO Ability and Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 157(2), pages 391-411, June.
    10. Gul, Ferdinand A. & Krishnamurti, Chandrasekhar & Shams, Syed & Chowdhury, Hasibul, 2020. "Corporate social responsibility, overconfident CEOs and empire building: Agency and stakeholder theoretic perspectives," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 52-68.
    11. 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).
    12. 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.
    13. Krishnamurti, Chandrasekhar & Shams, Syed & Pensiero, Domenico & Velayutham, Eswaran, 2019. "Socially responsible firms and mergers and acquisitions performance: Australian evidence," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    14. 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).
    15. 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).
    16. Yuan Yuan & Louise Yi Lu & Gaoliang Tian & Yangxin Yu, 2020. "Business Strategy and Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 162(2), pages 359-377, March.
    17. Zhang, Yanlei & García Lara, Juan Manuel & Tribó, Josep A., 2020. "Unpacking the black box of trade credit to socially responsible customers," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    18. Gao, Feng & Li, Yubin & Wang, Xinjie & Zhong, Zhaodong (Ken), 2021. "Corporate social responsibility and the term structure of CDS spreads," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    19. Ho, Hillbun & Kim, Namwoon & Reza, Sadat, 2022. "CSR and CEO pay: Does CEO reputation matter?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 1034-1049.
    20. Giovanni Cardillo & Ennio Bendinelli & Giuseppe Torluccio, 2023. "COVID‐19, ESG investing, and the resilience of more sustainable stocks: Evidence from European firms," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 602-623, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    G22; G32; G34;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G22 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Insurance; Insurance Companies; Actuarial Studies
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance

    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:kap:rqfnac:v:64:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s11156-024-01298-w. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://springer.com .

    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.