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The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure on Financial Performance of Firms in Africa

Author

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  • Amidu P. Mansaray

    (School of Accounting, Dongbei University of Finance and Economics, Dalian, P.R. China,)

  • Liu Yuanyuan

    (School of Accounting, Dongbei University of Finance and Economics, Dalian, P.R. China,)

  • Sesay Brima

    (School of Economics, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, P.R. China)

Abstract

In recent years, firms have been pressured by community stake holders to engage in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Many firms have responded to these pressures by implementing CSR activities in their operations, while others have opposed. Firms that opposed to CSR have appealed for a compromise between CSR and profitability. Consequently, this study evaluates the impact of CSR disclosure on the financial performance of firms in Africa for both short and long terms. 158 listed companies were selected from six African countries (South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Morocco, Egypt & Mauritius) and grouped into six industry. We measured CSR in terms of keywords count (content analysis) referred to this as CSRdisc. We employed accounting based to measure financial performance of firms (ROA for short-term, and ROE for long-term). Multiple linear regression analysis was done with a sample of panel data for a period of 11 years (2005-2015). Our empirical results showed that unlike for the sales & manufacturing, health & pharmacy and others industries, CSR disclosure affects the financial performance of firms in the short-run (ROA) negatively for the mining, investment and transport industries. We propose that this negative impact is an extra cost burden to the firms. Thus, CSR does not generate economic benefits for the firms in the short-run in those industries. With respect to long-term (ROE) financial performance, majority of our results suggest positive but no significant economic benefits for the firms. Although there is positive relationship between CSRdisc and financial performance of some firms in the long-run, the financial performance of firms in Africa does not depend significantly on their corporate social responsibility practices but rather on other factors, such as their previous performance, leverage, volume of capital, and size. Nevertheless, given the numerous benefits of corporate social responsibility, it is recommended that firms continue to give priority to this practice.

Suggested Citation

  • Amidu P. Mansaray & Liu Yuanyuan & Sesay Brima, 2017. "The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure on Financial Performance of Firms in Africa," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 7(5), pages 137-146.
    • Handle: RePEc:eco:journ1:2017-05-16
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    1. Jacob Cherian & Muhammad Umar & Phung Anh Thu & Thao Nguyen-Trang & Muhammad Safdar Sial & Nguyen Vinh Khuong, 2019. "Does Corporate Social Responsibility Affect the Financial Performance of the Manufacturing Sector? Evidence from an Emerging Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-14, February.
    2. Ioana Simona Ermiṣ & Victor-Emanuel Ciuciuc, 2022. "Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance and firms’ financial performance: A semi-structured literature review, through the lens of sustainable development," Nowoczesne Systemy Zarządzania. Modern Management Systems, Military University of Technology, Faculty of Security, Logistics and Management, Institute of Organization and Management, issue 4, pages 13-36.
    3. Dr. Muhammad Siddique & Dr. Muhammad Sarfraz Khan & Dr. Kamran Ali & Zunaira Maqsood, 2023. "Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Firm Financial Performance: Evidence from Insurance Sector of Pakistan," Journal of Policy Research (JPR), Research Foundation for Humanity (RFH), vol. 9(3), pages 1-14.
    4. Iram Hasan & Shveta Singh & Smita Kashiramka, 2022. "Does corporate social responsibility disclosure impact firm performance? An industry-wise analysis of Indian firms," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(8), pages 10141-10181, August.
    5. Musah Mohammed Saeed & Mahalakshmi Mudliar & Manisha Kumari, 2023. "Corporate social responsibility and financial performance nexus: Empirical evidence from Ghana," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(6), pages 2799-2815, November.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    CSR disclosure; financial performance; firms; ROA; ROE; Africa;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G3 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance
    • M1 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration

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