Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Risk: Theory and Empirical Evidence

48 Pages Posted: 20 Nov 2011 Last revised: 19 Jan 2018

See all articles by Rui A. Albuquerque

Rui A. Albuquerque

Boston College, Carroll School of Management; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

Yrjo Koskinen

Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary; European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

Chendi Zhang

University of Exeter Business School

Multiple version iconThere are 3 versions of this paper

Date Written: January 15, 2018

Abstract

This paper presents an industry equilibrium model where firms have a choice to engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. We model CSR as an investment to increase product differentiation that allows firms to benefit from higher profit margins. The model predicts that CSR decreases systematic risk and increases firm value and that these effects are stronger for firms with high product differentiation. We find supporting evidence for our predictions. We address a potential endogeneity problem by instrumenting CSR using data on the political affiliation of the firm's home state.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, product differentiation, systematic risk, beta, firm value, industry equilibrium

JEL Classification: G12, G32, D43, L13, M14

Suggested Citation

Albuquerque, Rui A. and Koskinen, Yrjo J and Zhang, Chendi, Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Risk: Theory and Empirical Evidence (January 15, 2018). European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) - Finance Working Paper No. 359/2013, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1961971 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1961971

Rui A. Albuquerque (Contact Author)

Boston College, Carroll School of Management ( email )

140 Commonwealth Avenue
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467-3808
United States

HOME PAGE: http://sites.google.com/view/ruialbuquerque/home

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) ( email )

c/o the Royal Academies of Belgium
Rue Ducale 1 Hertogsstraat
1000 Brussels
Belgium

Yrjo J Koskinen

Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary ( email )

SH 154, 2500 University Drive NW
Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4
Canada
+1-403-220-5540 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://https://profiles.ucalgary.ca/yrjo-koskinen

European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) ( email )

c/o the Royal Academies of Belgium
Rue Ducale 1 Hertogsstraat
Brussels
Belgium

HOME PAGE: http://https://ecgi.global/users/yrj%C3%B6-koskinen

Chendi Zhang

University of Exeter Business School ( email )

Streatham Court
Xfi Building, Rennes Dr.
Exeter, EX4 4JH
United Kingdom

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