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Corporate donations and shareholder value

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  • Hao Liang
  • Luc Renneboog

Abstract

Do corporate donations enhance shareholder wealth or reflect agency problems? We address this question for a global sample of firms whereby we distinguish between charitable and political donations, as well as between donations in cash and in kind. We find that charitable donations are positively related to financial performance and firm value, which is consistent with the value-enhancement hypothesis. This positive effect on firm value is stronger for cash than in-kind donations. In contrast, political donations do not appear to enhance shareholder value, but rather tend to reflect agency problems, as they are higher for firms with poor internal corporate governance and strong managerial entrenchment. We address endogeneity concerns by using peer firms’ donations as an instrument in a two-stage least squares (2SLS) setting and by conducting a difference-in-difference analysis around a general election.

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  • Hao Liang & Luc Renneboog, 2017. "Corporate donations and shareholder value," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 33(2), pages 278-316.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:oxford:v:33:y:2017:i:2:p:278-316.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/oxrep/grx024
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    9. Houqe, Muhammad Nurul & van Zijl, Tony & Karim, A.K.M. Waresul & George, Thomas St, 2021. "The value relevance of corporate donations," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    10. Dodd, Olga & Frijns, Bart & Garel, Alexandre, 2022. "Cultural diversity among directors and corporate social responsibility," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    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).
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    14. Wang, Yang & Zhang, Yifei & Kang, Wei & Ahmed, Ahmed Hassan, 2022. "Female analysts and COVID-19 corporate donation," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    corporate social responsibility; corporate philanthropy; charitable donations; political donations; corporate foundation; corporate governance; firm value;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G3 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance
    • I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty

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