企业社会责任与财务业绩：重新建立的“良性循环”【外文翻译】 .doc

本科毕业论文（设计）外 文 翻 译原文：Corporate social responsibility and nancialperformance: the virtuous circle revisitedWe examine the causal relation between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and nancial performance. Consistent with past studies, we nd that the two variables appear to be related when we use traditional statistical techniques. However, using a time series xed effects approach, we nd that the relation between CSR and nancial performance is much weaker than previously thought. We also nd little evidence of causality between nancial performance and narrower measures of social performance that focus on stakeholder management. Our results suggest that strong stock market performance leads to greater rm investment in aspects of CSR devoted to employee relations, but that CSR activities do not affect nancial performance. We conclude that CSR is driven more by unobservable rm characteristics than by nancial performance.The area of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a notable topic both in the business and academic press. McWilliams and Siegel (2001) dene CSR as actions that appear to further some social good, beyond the interests of the rm and that which is required by law,. Examples of CSR include support of local businesses or charities, developing recycling programs, and promoting minority employment. Though these activities certainly result in societal benets, opinions differ as to whether a rms CSR activity enhances nancial performance. For instance, CSR has been described as beinglittle more than a cosmetic treatment, while an earlier article in the nancial press touted the economic advantages for companies practicing CSR.CSR has attracted the attention of mutual fund investors, including TIAA CREF, and a number of funds use CSR as a screening device for investment selection. However, any benets investors derive from including socially responsible rms in their portfolios do not appear to be in form of superior returns. Bello (2005) matches socially responsible mutual funds to conventional funds in the late 1990s and nds no signicant difference in long-run investment performance or portfolio diversication between the two groups. According to Statman (2000), the Domini Social Index (DSI) did as well as the S&P 500 between 1990 and 1998. He nds that some socially responsible funds performed worse than the S&P 500 and the DSI, but fared no worse than conventional mutual funds during the time period.Academic research has examined the causal relation between CSR and nancial performancewhat is sometimes referred to as the virtuous circleto determine ifdoing good socially leads to doing well nancially, and whether rms exhibiting superior nancial performance devote more resources to social activities. Why should avirtuous circle exist? Waddock and Graves (1997) suggest that positive stakeholder relationships can reduce the likelihood of difculty when dealing with groups such as employees, customers, and the community. In addition, good social performance and good managerial practice may be related, so this in turn may lead to strong nancial performance. For instance, Cheng et al. (2006) nd that rms with strong shareholder rights tend to have a lower cost of equity capital than competing rms, which supports the idea that reducing agency problems between stakeholders and management improves nancial performance. Ferreira et al. (2008) nd that large rms benet in the form of positive long-run stock performance following certication of quality management. This suggests that in the case of large companies, good managerial practice does indeed improve the bottom line.The empirical evidence suggests that a virtuous circle exists. Waddock and Graves (1997) and Hillman and Keim (2001) nd that increased CSR leads to enhanced nancial performance and vice versa. McGuire et al. (1988) nd that prior years stock returns and accounting-based performance measures are related to current measures of CSR, but that a past record of good social performance does not affect the current nancial performance of a rm.Despite the extensive body of research on CSR and nancial performance, we believe that additional analysis is warranted. In this study, we use alternative statistical techniques to provide new insights on the causal relationship between rm performance and CSR. The studies cited above and others on the topic have typically employed ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions with 1-year lagged values of one variable (e.g., CSR) used as determinants of the other (e.g., ROA). Indeed, we also nd that CSR and performance are related when we use standard OLS regression models. However, in a time series xed effects approach with over 2,800 rm-year observations, we nd that the relation between CSR and nancial performance is much weaker than that documented in past studies. We also nd little evidence of causality between nancial performance and narrower measures of social performance. Overall, we nd weak evidence that strong stock market performance leads to greater levels of CSR that focus specically on employee relations. However, CSR activity does not lead to changes in a rms nancial performance.This study contributes to the literature on CSR in several ways. We use a more comprehensive time-series of CSR data relative to past studies. Also, previous research analyzing the link between CSR and nancial performance does not account for possible persistence or unobservable characteristics that may play a role in the level of CSR activity undertaken by a rm. We examine these important considerations by using Granger causality and controlling for rm xed-effects in our time series. We also use a Tobit specication for models of CSR causality to account for the censored nature of the data. Finally, our specications also include analysis of narrow measures of social performance such as how the company treats employees, the environment, the community, and diversity issues. The use of appropriate statistical methods and examination of the components of CSR yield added insights regarding the relation between CSR and nancial performance.To measure CSR, we use the KLD Socrates Database. This database rates companies on the various degrees of social responsibility including community participation, diversity, employee interests, environmental considerations, and shareholder interests. This index is superior to alternative measures of CSR because it is compiled by an independent rating service that focuses on a wide range of rms over a broad spectrum of CSR screens, whereas alternative measures of CSR focus on a small sample of rms or use a narrow CSR screen. Each screen in the KLD database is summarized in terms of strengths (positive values) and concerns (negative values). For instance, the community screen is calculated on the basis of strengths, such as generous giving or support for education in the area, and concerns, such as investment controversies or negative economic impact on the community.We calculate a weighted average of the overall index to represent each rms aggregate level of CSR, using the weights developed by Waddock and Graves (1997). We use these weights to facilitate comparison of results, and to highlight the effect of a different estimation methodology on statistical inferences. Waddock and Graves calculate weights using expert panel evaluations on the relative importance of each CSR attribute. Weightings are as follows: Employee relations: 0.168; Product: 0.154; Community relations: 0.148; Environment: 0.142; Treatment of women and minorities: 0.136; Nuclear power: 0.089; Military contracts: 0.086; South Africa: 0.076. Our sample extends from 1993 to 2000 and includes data on more than 600 U.S. rms. We assess nancial performance using both accounting (return on assets, or ROA) and market-based (common stock returns) measures from Compustat.Previous studies of the relationship between nancial performance and social responsibility have failed to control for unobservable characteristics in panel data that differ between rms but are constant over time. For example, variables such as corporate culture or managerial inuence may be signicant determinants of CSR activity. Using a xed effects regression model allows us to estimate the effects of the independent variables on the dependent variable while controlling for the effect of unobserved variables.The regression results suggest a link between CSR and nancial performance. An interesting question arises as to the nature of causality, if any, between doing good through greater CSR activity and doing well nancially. Does good nancial performance cause a rm to become more socially responsible, or does a high level of CSR lead to subsequent superior nancial performance? Good nancial performance may result in more resources being available for the pursuit of CSR goals. A high level of CSR may attract the attention of investors or customers or motivate employees to perform better and reduce costs, boosting nancial performance. Another possibility is that a virtuous circle exists, and the causality runs in both directions.Before discussing our results, a comment on model specication is in order. The typical problem that arises in OLS regression when lagged dependent variables are included as regressors is serial correlation in the error term, rendering the parameter estimates biased and inconsistent. We test for this using the method of Maddala (1971) and nd that serial correlation is not a problem in our model.Harrison and Freeman (1999) note that research on CSR has over time focused more on specic measures of social responsibility, and less on the aggregate social performance measure. For instance, Hillman and Keim (2001) separate social performance into two components: stakeholder management and social issue participation. Primary stakeholders include shareholders, employees, and customers, and they nd that this measure is directly related to shareholder value creation. However, social issue participation, which refers to the use of corporate resources for social issues outside rm strategy such as avoidance of nuclear energy, refraining from alcohol, tobacco, and gambling industries, etc., is negatively related to changes in shareholder wealth. Fisman et al. (2005) focus specically on CSR that is targeted towards the community in a study on industry variability in CSR. They justify the use of this measure as it is the most prominent element of CSR, and suggest that activities directed towards the community can be used as a means of differentiation by rms in competitive industries. They nd that the community CSR measure is positively related to protability in advertising intensive industries.We test the relationship between nancial performance and specic aspects of CSR using individual factors in the KLD database rather than the weighted average CSR score. The KLD database rates companies on eight different screens of social responsibility. Each screen focuses on strengths and concerns of a particular social indicator. We create separate stakeholder management scores for community, diversity, employee relations, and environment by adding up the number of strengths listed in each category and subtracting out the total number of weaknesses. By doing this, we can analyze the causal relationship between nancial performance and specic indicators of CSR rather than the overall CSR score.A number of studies have examined the relationship between CSR and nancial performance, and most have found that the two characteristics are directly related. In this paper, we analyze the existence and direction of causality between CSR and nancial performance by using a more comprehensive data set and an improved statistical methodology.We use the KLD index as the measure of CSR, and both return on assets and stock returns to assess nancial performance. First, we analyze causality using standard OLS regression analysis, similar to past research. Our results are consistent with the existing literature in that past nancial performance is signicant in explaining variability in CSR, and that CSR is signicant in explaining variability in nancial performance.However, when we introduce panel xed effects into the model, the results no longer suggest a strong relationship between CSR and nancial performance. We further examine the link between CSR and nancial performance using Granger causality models. Results here again demonstrate the weakened evidence of a relationship between CSR and nancial performance. However, there is some evidence that stock returns cause CSR performance. We then introduce both panel xed effects and Tobit models in the causality model specication. We nd no causality from CSR to nancial performance, and only weak evidence of causality running from stock returns to a rms CSR score. Finally, we examine the relation between nancial performance and stakeholder-specic measures of CSR. We nd that higher stock returns lead to higher employee relations scores, but nd no evidence of causality between stock returns and aspects of CSR related to the community, diversity, or environment.In summary, CSR and nancial performance appear to be related when using traditional OLS regression models. However, this virtuous circle is found to be much weaker when examined using a xed effects Granger causality approach. There is no evidence that CSR affects a rms nancial performance, and the only aspect of CSR driven by stock market performance is employee relations. If socially responsible activities provide benets to the rm, they appear to manifest themselves in forms unrelated to nancial performance.Source: Edward Nelling,Elizabeth Webb,2009.“Corporate social responsibility and nancial performance: the virtuous circle revisited”. Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting,vol.32,no.2,pp.197209.译文：企业社会责任与财务业绩：重新建立的“良性循环”通过研究企业社会责任与财务业绩之间的因果关系，我们发现，当运用传统的统计技术时这两个变量是相关的，并且与过去的研究结论一致。然而通过使用时间序列固定效应的方法，我们发现企业社会责任与财务业绩之间的关系比之前预想的更虚弱。我们也发现没有迹象显示财务绩效与重点在利益相关者管理上的采用狭隘措施的社会绩效评价之间存在因果关系。结果表明，强大的股票市场表现导致投资于企业社会责任方面的公司更多地致力于员工关系，但是企业社会责任活动并没有影响财务业绩。我们可以得出结论：企业社会责任比财务绩效更能够体现公司隐藏的特征。无论是在商业还是学术出版物上，企业社会责任已成为一个值得关注的话题。麦克威廉姆斯和席格（2001）定义企业社会责任为“那些对社会长期有利，超越企业利润的行为，这也正是法律所要求的”。企业社会责任的例子包括支持当地产业经济和慈善机构，发展循环项目，和促进少数名族人口就业问题。虽然这些活动的结果肯定存在社会效益的，但是对于一个公司的企业社会责任是否能提高财务业绩是见仁见智的。例如，企业社会责任被认为是“类似于化妆品治疗”，而在财经出版物上的一篇早期的文章则指出对于公司实践企业社会责任是具有经济优势的。企业社会责任业绩吸引了共同基金投资者们的注意，包括美国全美教师保险及年金协会以及一些使用社会责任作为投资选择的一个筛选工具的基金。然而，来自包括对社会负责任公司的投资组合中的任何利益都没有表现出超额的投资回报的形式。贝洛（2005）测试了社会责任基金和上世纪90年代末期的传统基金，发现在长期投资业绩上无显著差异或者投资组合的多样性。根据斯塔特曼（2000）的观点，多米尼社会指数做到了标准普尔500指数在1990至1998年间的数据，并发现一些社会责任基金表现得比标准普尔500指数和多米尼社会指数差，但是在同期内表现并不逊于传统的共同基金。学术研究已经检验了企业社会责任与财务绩效之间的因果关系它有时以“良性的循环”被提及决定是否在社会责任方面做得好就会导致在财务业绩上表现得