Does engagement in corporate social responsibility reduce firm risk? Evidence from China

Abstract

本文研究的目的，在於：檢視中國上市公司從事企業社會責任相關活動，是否能夠降低公司風險。研究期間為2008-2012年，資料則來自南方週報(Southern Weekend Journal)、國泰安系列研究數據庫(CSMAR)和台灣經濟新報(TEJ)。實證結果顯示：公司從事企業社會責任和公司總風險有顯著負向關係，此結果支持「風險降低假說」。我們亦發現從事企業社會責任活動在金融海嘯期間能有效降低公司之下檔風險並提高投資人效用，且此效用變動幅度會因投資人風險趨避程度高而更加明顯。此實證結果與Godfrey`s所提出之CSR對公司價值有近似保險效果的觀念一致，公司從事企業社會責任，可以作為風險管理之工具。

We set out in this study to examine whether social responsibility (CSR) engagement can reduce firm risk, using data from the Southern Weekend Journal, China Securities Market and Accounting Research (CSMAR) and Taiwan Economic Journal (TEJ) databases covering the years from 2008 to 2012. In general, we document evidence of a negative relation between CSR engagement and firm total risk, supporting risk-reducing hypothesis. Moreover, during the financial crisis period, we find that a firm`s CSR engagement can effectively decrease its downside risk and increase investor utility, and the magnitude of utility change are more pronounced as investor risk aversion increases. Our evidence is generally consistent with Godfrey`s (2005) argument that CSR carries ‘insurance-like’ effect for firm value at bad times. Overall, the general implication of this study is that firms can use CSR engagement as a risk management tool.