IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/emffin/v24y2025i4p415-438.html

Does Executive Compensation Impact Mandatory CSR Expenditure? Evidence from India

Author

Listed:
  • Neetu Yadav
  • Geeta Singh

Abstract

Our study examines the relation between the executives’ compensation and CSR expenditure in Indian firms. We employ OLS and Tobit regression to analyze the relation between executives’ compensation and CSR expenditure in more than 3,900 listed firms, from 2015 to 2023. We find that the variable component of the CEOs’ and CMDs’ compensation has a positive relation with the CSR expenditure made by the firm. We base our results on the argument of CSR improving the reputation of the firms in the market and, thus, motivating the managers to spend more in the activities related to CSR. JEL Codes: G38, M12, M14, M48

Suggested Citation

  • Neetu Yadav & Geeta Singh, 2025. "Does Executive Compensation Impact Mandatory CSR Expenditure? Evidence from India," Journal of Emerging Market Finance, Institute for Financial Management and Research, vol. 24(4), pages 415-438, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:emffin:v:24:y:2025:i:4:p:415-438
    DOI: 10.1177/09726527251343991
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/09726527251343991
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/09726527251343991?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. Sandra A. Waddock & Samuel B. Graves, 1997. "The Corporate Social Performance–Financial Performance Link," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(4), pages 303-319, April.
    2. Tseng, Chih-Yang & Demirkan, Sebahattin, 2021. "Joint effect of CEO overconfidence and corporate social responsibility discretion on cost of equity capital," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1).
    3. Hao Liang & Luc Renneboog, 2017. "On the Foundations of Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 72(2), pages 853-910, April.
    4. Jean Kabongo & Kiyoung Chang & Ying Li, 2013. "The Impact of Operational Diversity on Corporate Philanthropy: An Empirical Study of U.S. Companies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 116(1), pages 49-65, August.
    5. Cheung, Adrian (Waikong) & Pok, Wee Ching, 2019. "Corporate social responsibility and provision of trade credit," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(3).
    6. Chahine, Salim & Fang, Yiwei & Hasan, Iftekhar & Mazboudi, Mohamad, 2019. "Entrenchment through corporate social responsibility: Evidence from CEO network centrality," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    7. Stevan Bajic & Burcin Yurtoglu, 2018. "Which aspects of CSR predict firm market value?," Journal of Capital Markets Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 2(1), pages 50-69, May.
    8. Ikram, Atif & Li, Zhichuan (Frank) & Minor, Dylan, 2023. "CSR-contingent executive compensation contracts," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    9. Markus Kitzmueller & Jay Shimshack, 2012. "Economic Perspectives on Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 50(1), pages 51-84, March.
    10. Tarun Khanna & Yishay Yafeh, 2007. "Business Groups in Emerging Markets: Paragons or Parasites?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 45(2), pages 331-372, June.
    11. 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.
    12. Fabián Blanes & Cristina De Fuentes & Rubén Porcuna, 2021. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Managerial Compensation: Further Evidence from Spanish Listed Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-21, June.
    13. Geeta Singh & Satish Kumar & Rajesh Pathak & Kaushik Bhattacharjee, 2023. "Does Promoter Ownership Affect Dividend Policy? An Agency Problem Perspective," American Business Review, Pompea College of Business, University of New Haven, vol. 26(2), pages 288-313.
    14. Collins E. Okafor & Nacasius U. Ujah, 2020. "Executive compensation and corporate social responsibility: does a golden parachute matter?," International Journal of Managerial Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 16(5), pages 575-598, April.
    15. 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.
    16. Supriti Mishra & Damodar Suar, 2010. "Does Corporate Social Responsibility Influence Firm Performance of Indian Companies?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 95(4), pages 571-601, September.
    17. Kato, Takao & Kim, Woochan & Lee, Ju Ho, 2007. "Executive compensation, firm performance, and Chaebols in Korea: Evidence from new panel data," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 36-55, January.
    18. Rajan, Raghuram G & Zingales, Luigi, 1995. "What Do We Know about Capital Structure? Some Evidence from International Data," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(5), pages 1421-1460, December.
    19. 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.
    20. Al-Shammari, Marwan & Rasheed, Abdul & Al-Shammari, Hussam A., 2019. "CEO narcissism and corporate social responsibility: Does CEO narcissism affect CSR focus?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 106-117.
    21. Neetu Yadav & Vandana Bhama, 2023. "Sustainability, Resilience, and Returns During COVID-19: Empirical Evidence from US and Indian Stock Markets," Journal of Emerging Market Finance, Institute for Financial Management and Research, vol. 22(2), pages 215-238, June.
    22. Chen, Wanyu (Tina) & Zhou, Gaoguang (Stephen) & Zhu, Xindong (Kevin), 2019. "CEO tenure and corporate social responsibility performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 292-302.
    23. 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.
    24. Collins E. Okafor & Nacasius U. Ujah, 2020. "Executive compensation and corporate social responsibility: does a golden parachute matter?," International Journal of Managerial Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 16(5), pages 575-598, April.
    25. Frank Li & Tao Li & Dylan Minor, 2016. "CEO power, corporate social responsibility, and firm value: a test of agency theory," International Journal of Managerial Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 12(5), pages 611-628, October.
    26. Manos, Ronny & Murinde, Victor & Green, Christopher J., 2012. "Dividend policy and business groups: Evidence from Indian firms," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 42-56.
    27. Lu, Hao & Oh, Won-Yong & Kleffner, Anne & Chang, Young Kyun, 2021. "How do investors value corporate social responsibility? Market valuation and the firm specific contexts," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 14-25.
    28. Frank Li & Tao Li & Dylan Minor, 2016. "CEO power, corporate social responsibility, and firm value: a test of agency theory," International Journal of Managerial Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 12(5), pages 611-628, October.
    29. Bhaskar, Ratikant & Bansal, Shashank & Abbassi, Wajih & Pandey, Dharen Kumar, 2023. "CEO compensation and CSR: Economic implications and policy recommendations," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 232-256.
    30. Wintoki, M. Babajide & Linck, James S. & Netter, Jeffry M., 2012. "Endogeneity and the dynamics of internal corporate governance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(3), pages 581-606.
    31. Frank Li & Tao Li & Dylan Minor, 2016. "CEO power, corporate social responsibility, and firm value: a test of agency theory," International Journal of Managerial Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 12(5), pages 611-628, October.
    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. Syed Zulfiqar Ali Shah & Saeed Akbar & Xiaoyun Zhu, 2025. "Mandatory CSR disclosure, institutional ownership and firm value: Evidence from China," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(1), pages 71-85, January.
    2. Siew Peng Lee, 2023. "Board monitoring effectiveness and corporate sustainability performance: do legal system and CEO non-duality matter?," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 1243-1267, May.
    3. Ruixi Long & Shuyang Jia, 2023. "Foreground or background my social responsibility: impact of the trade war on the readability of corporate social responsibility disclosures," Information Technology and Management, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 79-97, March.
    4. 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).
    5. Zhe Li & Ping Wang, 2023. "Cross‐border mergers and acquisitions and corporate social responsibility: Evidence from Chinese listed firms," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1-2), pages 335-376, January.
    6. Marwan Al-Shammari & Soumendra Nath Banerjee & Abdul Rasheed & Hussam Al-Shammari & Krist Swimberghe, 2025. "Sameness and/or Otherness: What Matters More for Narcissist CEOs in the Context of Non-market Strategy?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 199(1), pages 85-112, June.
    7. Emmanuel Adegbite & Yilmaz Guney & Frank Kwabi & Suleiman Tahir, 2019. "Financial and corporate social performance in the UK listed firms: the relevance of non-linearity and lag effects," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 52(1), pages 105-158, January.
    8. Chiu, Sana (Shih-chi) & Hoskisson, Robert E. & Tony Kong, Dejun & Li, Andrew & Shao, Ping, 2023. "Predicting primary and secondary stakeholder engagement: A CEO motivation-means contingency model," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    9. Alhajjeah, Diana & Besim, Mustafa & Al-Hajieh, Heitham, 2025. "Mitigating crisis impact: The influence of corporate social responsibility on non-financial firms’ financial performance," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    10. Zhaocheng Xu & Jingchuan Hou, 2021. "Effects of CEO Overseas Experience on Corporate Social Responsibility: Evidence from Chinese Manufacturing Listed Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-24, May.
    11. Karim Mahran & Ahmed A. Elamer, 2025. "Shaping ESG commitment through organizational psychological capital: The role of CEO power," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(1), pages 690-707, January.
    12. Shahid Ali & Junrui Zhang & Muhammad Usman & Muhammad Kaleem Khan & Farman Ullah Khan & Muhammad Abubakkar Siddique, 2020. "Do tournament incentives motivate chief executive officers to be socially responsible?," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 35(5), pages 597-619, February.
    13. 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.
    14. 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).
    15. Gaowen Kong & T. Dongmin Kong & Ni Qin & Li Yu, 2023. "Ethnic Diversity, Trust and Corporate Social Responsibility: The Moderating Effects of Marketization and Language," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 187(3), pages 449-471, October.
    16. Jing Jia & Zhongtian Li, 2022. "Corporate Environmental Performance and Financial Distress: Evidence from Australia," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 32(2), pages 188-200, June.
    17. Brahma, Sanjukta & Boateng, Agyenim, 2025. "Board gender diversity, CEO power and LGBTQ-supportive corporate policies," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    18. Bae, Kee-Hong & El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane & Kwok, Chuck C.Y. & Zheng, Ying, 2019. "Does corporate social responsibility reduce the costs of high leverage? Evidence from capital structure and product market interactions," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 135-150.
    19. Sujata Banerjee & Alessandro Zattoni, 2026. "Can CEOs’ characteristics influence CSR engagement in emerging economies: evidence from India," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 30(1), pages 361-396, March.
    20. Daewoung Choi & Hyunju Shin & Kyoungmi Kim, 2023. "CEO’s Childhood Experience of Natural Disaster and CSR Activities," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 188(2), pages 281-306, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • M12 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Personnel Management; Executives; Executive Compensation
    • M14 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Corporate Culture; Diversity; Social Responsibility
    • M48 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Government Policy and Regulation

    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:sae:emffin:v:24:y:2025:i:4:p:415-438. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.ifmr.ac.in .

    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.