IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jjrfmx/v17y2024i5p187-d1387472.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

What Is the Relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility and Financial Performance in the UK Banking Sector?

Author

Listed:
  • George Giannopoulos

    (Kingston Business School, Kingston University, Kingston Hill, Kingston Upon Thames, London KT2 7LB, UK
    Department of Business Administration, University of West Attica, 12243 Athens, Greece)

  • Nicholas Pilcher

    (Kingston Business School, Kingston University, Kingston Hill, Kingston Upon Thames, London KT2 7LB, UK)

  • Ioannis Salmon

    (Department of Business Administration, University of West Attica, 12243 Athens, Greece)

Abstract

This study rigorously investigates the intricate dynamics between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), quantified through Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) scores, and financial performance (FP), measured via the return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE), within the UK banking sector. Our analysis is based on a comprehensive dataset from Bloomberg. This research encapsulates data from 32 banks publicly listed on the London Stock Exchange over a six-year span from 2017 to 2022. Employing panel data regression models while controlling leverage and bank size, we delve into the relationship between banks’ CSR engagements, as reflected in their ESG scores, and their financial outcomes. Our findings indicate a negative correlation between the ESG score and both the ROA and ROE, suggesting that elevated CSR commitments may inversely impact short-term financial returns. This finding not only challenges prevailing narratives within the sector but also fosters a crucial discourse on the balance between ethical banking practices and profitability. The implications of this research study are manifold, extending to policymakers, banking executives, and investors, suggesting a revaluation of CSR strategies in alignment with long-term value creation and sustainable banking. This study not only enriches academic discourse on CSR within the financial sector but also serves as a beacon for future inquiries into the evolving landscape of responsible banking, advocating for a nuanced understanding of CSR’s role in shaping the financial and ethical contours of the banking industry.

Suggested Citation

  • George Giannopoulos & Nicholas Pilcher & Ioannis Salmon, 2024. "What Is the Relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility and Financial Performance in the UK Banking Sector?," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-21, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jjrfmx:v:17:y:2024:i:5:p:187-:d:1387472
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1911-8074/17/5/187/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1911-8074/17/5/187/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stephen Brammer & Chris Brooks & Stephen Pavelin, 2006. "Corporate Social Performance and Stock Returns: UK Evidence from Disaggregate Measures," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 35(3), pages 97-116, September.
    2. Lin, Woon Leong & Law, Siong Hook & Ho, Jo Ann & Sambasivan, Murali, 2019. "The causality direction of the corporate social responsibility – Corporate financial performance Nexus: Application of Panel Vector Autoregression approach," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 401-418.
    3. Jae-Joon Han & Hyun Jeong Kim & Jeongmin Yu, 2016. "Empirical study on relationship between corporate social responsibility and financial performance in Korea," Asian Journal of Sustainability and Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 61-76, December.
    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. Muhammad Azeem Qureshi & Minhas Akbar & Ahsan Akbar & Petra Poulova, 2021. "Do ESG Endeavors Assist Firms in Achieving Superior Financial Performance? A Case of 100 Best Corporate Citizens," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(2), pages 21582440211, June.
    2. Mărioara Beleneși & Victoria Bogdan & Dorina Nicoleta Popa, 2021. "Disclosure Dynamics and Non-Financial Reporting Analysis. The Case of Romanian Listed Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-23, April.
    3. Fernando García & Jairo González-Bueno & Francisco Guijarro & Javier Oliver, 2020. "Forecasting the Environmental, Social, and Governance Rating of Firms by Using Corporate Financial Performance Variables: A Rough Set Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-18, April.
    4. Ibrahim Khalifa Elmghaamez & Jesuleke I. Olarewaju, 2022. "Corporate social responsibility and financial performance of product and service‐based firms listed on London Stock Exchange," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(5), pages 1370-1383, September.
    5. Massimiliano Cerciello & Francesco Busato & Simone Taddeo, 2023. "The effect of sustainable business practices on profitability. Accounting for strategic disclosure," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(2), pages 802-819, March.
    6. Woon Leong Lin & Siong Hook Law & W. N. W. Azman‐Saini, 2020. "Market differentiation threshold and the relationship between corporate social responsibility and corporate financial performance," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(3), pages 1279-1293, May.
    7. Qian Wang & Huiru Chen & Yajiong Xue & Huigang Liang, 2022. "How Corporate Social Responsibility Affects Firm Performance: The Inverted-U Shape Contingent on Founder CEO," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-24, September.
    8. Cao Thi Mien Thuy & Nguyen Vinh Khuong & Nguyen Thi Canh & Nguyen Thanh Liem, 2021. "Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure and Financial Performance: The Mediating Role of Financial Statement Comparability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-15, September.
    9. Wafa Ghardallou & Noha Alessa, 2022. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Performance in GCC Countries: A Panel Smooth Transition Regression Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-21, June.
    10. Kun‐Shan Wu & Bao‐Guang Chang, 2022. "The concave–convex effects of environmental, social and governance on high‐tech firm value: Quantile regression approach," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(5), pages 1527-1545, September.
    11. Alan Gregory & Julie Whittaker, 2013. "Exploring the Valuation of Corporate Social Responsibility—A Comparison of Research Methods," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 116(1), pages 1-20, August.
    12. I. Girerd-Potin & S. Jimenez-Garces & Pascal Louvet, 2014. "Which Dimensions of Social Responsibility Concern Financial Investors?," Post-Print halshs-01337706, HAL.
    13. Muhammad Suhail Rizwan & Asifa Obaid & Dawood Ashraf, 2017. "The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Default Risk: Empirical evidence from US Firms," Business & Economic Review, Institute of Management Sciences, Peshawar, Pakistan, vol. 9(3), pages 36-70, September.
    14. Tao Zeng, 2016. "Corporate Social Responsibility, Tax Aggressiveness, and Firm Market Value," Accounting Perspectives, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(1), pages 7-30, March.
    15. Thomas Kaspereit & Kerstin Lopatta, 2013. "The Value Relevance of SAM's Corporate Sustainability Ranking and GRI Sustainability Reporting in the European Stock Markets," ZenTra Working Papers in Transnational Studies 19 / 2013, ZenTra - Center for Transnational Studies, revised Oct 2013.
    16. Guillermo Badía & Luis Ferruz & Maria Céu Cortez, 2021. "The performance of social responsible investing from retail investors' perspective: international evidence," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(4), pages 6074-6088, October.
    17. Qianqian Huang & Anxia Wan & Ehsan Elahi & Benhong Peng & Jiao Li, 2023. "Can corporate social responsibility enhance corporate competitiveness? An empirical analysis based on listed companies in China's pharmaceutical manufacturing industry," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(5), pages 2639-2650, September.
    18. Eduardo Ortas & Isabel Gallego‐Álvarez & Igor Álvarez, 2019. "National institutions, stakeholder engagement, and firms' environmental, social, and governance performance," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(3), pages 598-611, May.
    19. Moliterni, Fabio, 2018. "Do Global Financial Markets Capitalise Sustainability? Evidence of a Quick Reversal," SAS: Society and Sustainability 274853, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    20. Linda Yu, 2014. "Performance Of Socially Responsible Mutual Funds," Global Journal of Business Research, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 8(3), pages 9-17.

    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:gam:jjrfmx:v:17:y:2024:i:5:p:187-:d:1387472. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.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.