企业社会责任和实践研究.pdfVIP

Corporate Social Responsibility and Financial Performance Haas School of Business University of California at Berkeley Applied Financial Project By: Margarita Tsoutsoura Berkeley, California March, 2004 1 ABSTRACT The field of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has grown exponentially in the last decade. Nevertheless, there remains a protracted debate about the legitimacy and value of corporate responses to CSR concerns. There are different views of the role of the firm in society and disagreement as to whether wealth maximization should be the sole goal of a corporation. Using extensive data over a period of five years, this study explores and tests the sign of the relationship between corporate social responsibility and financial performance. The dataset includes most of the SP 500 firms and covers the years 1996-2000. The relationship is tested by using empirical methods. The results indicate that the sign of the relationship is positive and statistically significant, supporting the view that socially responsible corporate performance can be associated with a series of bottom-line benefits. Acknowledgements I would like to express gratitude towards Professors John O’Brien and Dr. Kelly McElhaney, and to Scott Pinkus and Ron Tanemura for their support and guidance. I would also like to thank the Directors of the Center for Responsible Business at Haas School of Business for their financial support for this project.