IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/pacfin/v62y2020ics0927538x19305682.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Corporate social responsibility and debt maturity: Australian evidence

Author

Listed:
  • Nguyen, Van Ha
  • Choi, Bobae
  • Agbola, Frank W.

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and debt maturity. After controlling for other determinants of debt maturity, we find that socially responsible firms exhibit longer debt maturity than other firms, supporting the view that CSR facilities firms' access to long-term debts. Further analysis shows that the effect of CSR on debt maturity is stronger for firms operating in the mining industry and firms with a higher level of information asymmetry. Our findings are robust to alternative variable measurements as well as endogeneity and sample selection bias controls.

Suggested Citation

  • Nguyen, Van Ha & Choi, Bobae & Agbola, Frank W., 2020. "Corporate social responsibility and debt maturity: Australian evidence," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pacfin:v:62:y:2020:i:c:s0927538x19305682
    DOI: 10.1016/j.pacfin.2020.101374
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927538X19305682
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.pacfin.2020.101374?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zheng, Xiaolan & El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane & Kwok, Chuck C.Y., 2012. "National culture and corporate debt maturity," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 468-488.
    2. Guedes, Jose & Opler, Tim, 1996. "The Determinants of the Maturity of Corporate Debt Issues," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 51(5), pages 1809-1833, December.
    3. Douglas W. Diamond & Zhiguo He, 2014. "A Theory of Debt Maturity: The Long and Short of Debt Overhang," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 69(2), pages 719-762, April.
    4. Ben-Nasr, Hamdi & Boubaker, Sabri & Rouatbi, Wael, 2015. "Ownership structure, control contestability, and corporate debt maturity," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 265-285.
    5. Sadok El Ghoul & Omrane Guedhami & Hakkon Kim & Kwangwoo Park, 2018. "Corporate Environmental Responsibility and the Cost of Capital: International Evidence," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 149(2), pages 335-361, May.
    6. Ioannis Ioannou & George Serafeim, 2012. "What drives corporate social performance? The role of nation-level institutions," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 43(9), pages 834-864, December.
    7. Jamie Alcock & Frank Finn & Kelvin Jui Keng Tan, 2012. "The determinants of debt maturity in Australian firms," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 52(2), pages 313-341, June.
    8. Benlemlih, Mohammed, 2017. "Corporate social responsibility and firm financing decisions: A literature review," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 42, pages 1-10.
    9. Mohammed Benlemlih, 2017. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Debt Maturity," Post-Print halshs-01321204, HAL.
    10. Yan Zhu & Li-Yun Sun & Alicia Leung, 2014. "Corporate social responsibility, firm reputation, and firm performance: The role of ethical leadership," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 31(4), pages 925-947, December.
    11. Jarrad Harford & Sandy Klasa & William F. Maxwell, 2014. "Refinancing Risk and Cash Holdings," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 69(3), pages 975-1012, June.
    12. Giovanni Cespa & Giacinta Cestone, 2007. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Managerial Entrenchment," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(3), pages 741-771, September.
    13. Gopalan, Radhakrishnan & Song, Fenghua & Yerramilli, Vijay, 2014. "Debt Maturity Structure and Credit Quality," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 49(4), pages 817-842, August.
    14. Cameron, A. Colin & Gelbach, Jonah B. & Miller, Douglas L., 2011. "Robust Inference With Multiway Clustering," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 29(2), pages 238-249.
    15. Ioannis Oikonomou & Chris Brooks & Stephen Pavelin, 2014. "The Effects of Corporate Social Performance on the Cost of Corporate Debt and Credit Ratings," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 49(1), pages 49-75, February.
    16. Cho, Charles H. & Patten, Dennis M., 2007. "The role of environmental disclosures as tools of legitimacy: A research note," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 32(7-8), pages 639-647.
    17. Barclay, Michael J & Smith, Clifford W, Jr, 1995. "The Maturity Structure of Corporate Debt," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(2), pages 609-631, June.
    18. Van Ha Nguyen & Frank W Agbola & Bobae Choi, 2019. "Does corporate social responsibility reduce information asymmetry? Empirical evidence from Australia," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 44(2), pages 188-211, May.
    19. Philip Baird & Pinar Geylani & Jeffrey Roberts, 2012. "Corporate Social and Financial Performance Re-Examined: Industry Effects in a Linear Mixed Model Analysis," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 109(3), pages 367-388, September.
    20. Henri Servaes & Ane Tamayo, 2013. "The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Firm Value: The Role of Customer Awareness," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 59(5), pages 1045-1061, May.
    21. Kim, Yongtae & Li, Haidan & Li, Siqi, 2014. "Corporate social responsibility and stock price crash risk," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 1-13.
    22. Roberto Garcia-Castro & Miguel Ariño & Miguel Canela, 2010. "Does Social Performance Really Lead to Financial Performance? Accounting for Endogeneity," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 92(1), pages 107-126, March.
    23. Myers, Stewart C., 1984. "Capital structure puzzle," Working papers 1548-84., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.
    24. Najah Attig & Sadok El Ghoul & Omrane Guedhami & Jungwon Suh, 2013. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Credit Ratings," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 117(4), pages 679-694, November.
    25. Cragg, John G. & Donald, Stephen G., 1993. "Testing Identifiability and Specification in Instrumental Variable Models," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(2), pages 222-240, April.
    26. Myers, Stewart C, 1984. "The Capital Structure Puzzle," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 39(3), pages 575-592, July.
    27. Mohammed Benlemlih, 2017. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Debt Maturity," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 144(3), pages 491-517, September.
    28. Arvind Krishnamurthy, 2010. "How Debt Markets Have Malfunctioned in the Crisis," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 24(1), pages 3-28, Winter.
    29. Amir Barnea & Amir Rubin, 2010. "Corporate Social Responsibility as a Conflict Between Shareholders," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 97(1), pages 71-86, November.
    30. Tanaka, Takanori, 2016. "How do managerial incentives affect the maturity structure of corporate public debt?," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 40(PA), pages 130-146.
    31. Stewart C. Myers, 1984. "Capital Structure Puzzle," NBER Working Papers 1393, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    32. Sarah Lauwo, 2018. "Challenging Masculinity in CSR Disclosures: Silencing of Women’s Voices in Tanzania’s Mining Industry," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 149(3), pages 689-706, May.
    33. Stohs, Mark Hoven & Mauer, David C, 1996. "The Determinants of Corporate Debt Maturity Structure," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 69(3), pages 279-312, July.
    34. Xingqiang Du & Jianying Weng & Quan Zeng & Yingying Chang & Hongmei Pei, 2017. "Do Lenders Applaud Corporate Environmental Performance? Evidence from Chinese Private-Owned Firms," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 143(1), pages 179-207, June.
    35. Borghesi, Richard & Houston, Joel F. & Naranjo, Andy, 2014. "Corporate socially responsible investments: CEO altruism, reputation, and shareholder interests," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 164-181.
    36. Sadok El Ghoul & Omrane Guedhami & Jeffrey A. Pittman & Sorin Rizeanu, 2016. "Cross†Country Evidence on the Importance of Auditor Choice to Corporate Debt Maturity," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 33(2), pages 718-751, June.
    37. Yang Sun & Huu Nhan Duong & Harminder Singh, 2014. "Information Asymmetry, Trade Size, and the Dynamic Volume-Return Relation: Evidence from the Australian Securities Exchange," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 49(3), pages 539-564, August.
    38. Flannery, Mark J, 1986. "Asymmetric Information and Risky Debt Maturity Choice," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 41(1), pages 19-37, March.
    39. Andreas Hoepner & Ioannis Oikonomou & Bert Scholtens & Michael Schröder, 2016. "The Effects of Corporate and Country Sustainability Characteristics on The Cost of Debt: An International Investigation," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(1-2), pages 158-190, January.
    40. Frederick C. Scherr & Heather M. Hulburt, 2001. "The Debt Maturity Structure of Small Firms," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 30(1), Spring.
    41. Mitchell A. Petersen, 2009. "Estimating Standard Errors in Finance Panel Data Sets: Comparing Approaches," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(1), pages 435-480, January.
    42. Amal Aouadi & Sylvain Marsat, 2018. "Do ESG Controversies Matter for Firm Value? Evidence from International Data," Post-Print halshs-02007374, HAL.
    43. Galema, Rients & Plantinga, Auke & Scholtens, Bert, 2008. "The stocks at stake: Return and risk in socially responsible investment," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(12), pages 2646-2654, December.
    44. Suzanne Young & Vijaya Thyil, 2014. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Governance: Role of Context in International Settings," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 122(1), pages 1-24, June.
    45. Amal Aouadi & Sylvain Marsat, 2018. "Do ESG Controversies Matter for Firm Value? Evidence from International Data," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 151(4), pages 1027-1047, September.
    46. Huang, Ronghong & Tan, Kelvin Jui Keng & Faff, Robert W., 2016. "CEO overconfidence and corporate debt maturity," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 93-110.
    47. Anginer, Deniz & Mansi, Sattar & Warburton, A. Joseph & Yildizhan, Celim, 2011. "Firm Reputation and Cost of Debt Capital," MPRA Paper 64965, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 05 Jun 2015.
    48. Brown, William O. & Helland, Eric & Smith, Janet Kiholm, 2006. "Corporate philanthropic practices," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 12(5), pages 855-877, December.
    49. Sadok El Ghoul & Omrane Guedhami & Yongtae Kim, 2017. "Country-level institutions, firm value, and the role of corporate social responsibility initiatives," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 48(3), pages 360-385, April.
    50. Myers, Stewart C., 1977. "Determinants of corporate borrowing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 147-175, November.
    51. Kais Bouslah & Lawrence Kryzanowski & Bouchra M’Zali, 2018. "Social Performance and Firm Risk: Impact of the Financial Crisis," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 149(3), pages 643-669, May.
    52. Maretno Harjoto & Hoje Jo, 2015. "Legal vs. Normative CSR: Differential Impact on Analyst Dispersion, Stock Return Volatility, Cost of Capital, and Firm Value," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 128(1), pages 1-20, April.
    53. Philipp Schreck, 2011. "Reviewing the Business Case for Corporate Social Responsibility: New Evidence and Analysis," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 103(2), pages 167-188, October.
    54. Douglas W. Diamond, 1991. "Debt Maturity Structure and Liquidity Risk," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(3), pages 709-737.
    55. Goss, Allen & Roberts, Gordon S., 2011. "The impact of corporate social responsibility on the cost of bank loans," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 1794-1810, July.
    56. Belkhir, Mohamed & Ben-Nasr, Hamdi & Boubaker, Sabri, 2016. "Labor protection and corporate Debt maturity: International evidence," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 134-149.
    57. Larelle Chapple & Peter M. Clarkson & Daniel L. Gold, 2013. "The Cost of Carbon: Capital Market Effects of the Proposed Emission Trading Scheme ( ETS )," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 49(1), pages 1-33, March.
    58. Jinhua Cui & Hoje Jo & Haejung Na, 2018. "Does Corporate Social Responsibility Affect Information Asymmetry?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(3), pages 549-572, March.
    59. Aydin Ozkan, 2002. "The determinants of corporate debt maturity: evidence from UK firms," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(1), pages 19-24.
    60. Colin Higgins & Markus Milne & Bernadine Gramberg, 2015. "The Uptake of Sustainability Reporting in Australia," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 129(2), pages 445-468, June.
    61. Hoje Jo & Haejung Na, 2012. "Does CSR Reduce Firm Risk? Evidence from Controversial Industry Sectors," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 110(4), pages 441-456, November.
    62. Jordi Surroca & Josep A. Tribó & Sandra Waddock, 2010. "Corporate responsibility and financial performance: the role of intangible resources," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 463-490, May.
    63. Paul C. Godfrey & Craig B. Merrill & Jared M. Hansen, 2009. "The relationship between corporate social responsibility and shareholder value: an empirical test of the risk management hypothesis," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 425-445, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xu, Yong & Zhao, Xin & Wang, Jian & Xie, Peijun, 2023. "Clarifying the dispute of corporate social responsibility: Evidence from green technological innovation," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    2. Faisal Seraj Alnori, 2023. "What do we Know about Corporate Debt Maturity Structure in Saudi Arabia?," Journal of Applied Finance & Banking, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 13(6), pages 1-13.
    3. Fengdi Chu & Wei Zhang & Shaobo Wu & Guolei Liu, 2021. "How Does Individual-Level Envy Affect Team Creativity? Effects of Knowledge Seeking and Moral Reflection," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(4), pages 21582440211, October.
    4. Tesfaye T. Lemma & Ayalew Lulseged & Mohammad Tavakolifar, 2021. "Corporate commitment to climate change action, carbon risk exposure, and a firm's debt financing policy," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(8), pages 3919-3936, December.
    5. Haiyan Sun & Guangyang Wang & Junwei Bai & Jianfei Shen & Xinyuan Zheng & Erli Dan & Feiyu Chen & Ludan Zhang, 2022. "Corporate Sustainable Development, Corporate Environmental Performance and Cost of Debt," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, December.
    6. Li, WeiWei & Padmanabhan, Prasad & Huang, Chia-Hsing, 2024. "ESG and debt structure: Is the nature of this relationship nonlinear?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    7. Badrul Muttakin, Mohammad & Chatterjee, Bikram & Khan, Arifur & Getie Mihret, Dessalegn & Roy, Rajat & Yaftian, Ali, 2022. "Corporate political donations, board gender diversity, and corporate social responsibility: Evidence from Australia," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 290-299.
    8. Wu, Julia Yonghua & Opare, Solomon & Bhuiyan, Md. Borhan Uddin & Habib, Ahsan, 2022. "Determinants and consequences of debt maturity structure: A systematic review of the international literature," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wu, Julia Yonghua & Opare, Solomon & Bhuiyan, Md. Borhan Uddin & Habib, Ahsan, 2022. "Determinants and consequences of debt maturity structure: A systematic review of the international literature," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    2. Li, WeiWei & Padmanabhan, Prasad & Huang, Chia-Hsing, 2024. "ESG and debt structure: Is the nature of this relationship nonlinear?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    3. Van Ha Nguyen & Frank W Agbola & Bobae Choi, 2019. "Does corporate social responsibility reduce information asymmetry? Empirical evidence from Australia," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 44(2), pages 188-211, May.
    4. Kashefi Pour, Eilnaz & Lasfer, Meziane, 2019. "Taxes, governance, and debt maturity structure: International evidence," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 136-161.
    5. Mohammed Benlemlih, 2017. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Debt Maturity," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 144(3), pages 491-517, September.
    6. Li, Tongxia & Lu, Chun & Routledge, James, 2023. "Brand capital on debt maturity structure," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(3).
    7. Tesfaye T. Lemma & Ayalew Lulseged & Mohammad Tavakolifar, 2021. "Corporate commitment to climate change action, carbon risk exposure, and a firm's debt financing policy," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(8), pages 3919-3936, December.
    8. Hassan, M. Kabir & Karim, Md. Sydul & Kozlowski, Steven E., 2022. "Implications of public corruption for local firms: Evidence from corporate debt maturity," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    9. Benlemlih, Mohammed, 2019. "Corporate social responsibility and dividend policy," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 114-138.
    10. Mohammed Benlemlih & Li Cai, 2020. "Corporate environmental performance and financing decisions," Post-Print hal-03124950, HAL.
    11. Jannik Gerwanski, 2020. "Does it pay off? Integrated reporting and cost of debt: European evidence," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(5), pages 2299-2319, September.
    12. Huang, Kershen & Shang, Chenguang, 2019. "Leverage, debt maturity, and social capital," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 26-46.
    13. Atawnah, Nader & Zaman, Rashid & Liu, Jia & Atawna, Thaer & Maghyereh, Aktham, 2023. "Does foreign competition affect corporate debt maturity structure? Evidence from import penetration," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    14. Benjamin Lynch & Martha O'Hagan‐Luff, 2024. "Relative corporate social performance and cost of equity capital: International evidence," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(3), pages 2882-2910, July.
    15. Ashrafee Hossain & Samir Saadi & Abu S. Amin, 2023. "Does CEO Risk-Aversion Affect Carbon Emission?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 182(4), pages 1171-1198, February.
    16. Li, Xiang & Su, Dan, 2020. "How does economic policy uncertainty affect corporate debt maturity?," IWH Discussion Papers 6/2020, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    17. Van Ha Nguyen & Frank W. Agbola & Bobae Choi, 2022. "Does Corporate Social Responsibility Enhance Financial Performance? Evidence from Australia," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 32(1), pages 5-18, March.
    18. Li, Xiang, 2022. "How does economic policy uncertainty affect corporate debt maturity?," IWH Discussion Papers 5/2022, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    19. Silvia Magri, 2010. "Debt Maturity Choice of Nonpublic Italian Firms," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 42(2‐3), pages 443-463, March.
    20. Hasan, Mostafa Monzur & Asad, Suzona & Wong, Jin Boon, 2022. "Oil price uncertainty and corporate debt maturity structure," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 46(PA).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Corporate social responsibility; Debt maturity; Long-term debt; Mining firms; Information asymmetry;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • M14 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Corporate Culture; Diversity; Social Responsibility

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:pacfin:v:62:y:2020:i:c:s0927538x19305682. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/pacfin .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.