IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v151y2018i2d10.1007_s10551-016-3205-8.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Corporate Philanthropy, Reputation Risk Management and Shareholder Value: A Study of Australian Corporate giving

Author

Listed:
  • Kate Hogarth

    (Queensland University of Technology)

  • Marion Hutchinson

    (Queensland University of Technology)

  • Wendy Scaife

    (Queensland University of Technology)

Abstract

This study examines the role of corporate philanthropy (CP) in the management of reputation risk and shareholder value of the top 100 ASX listed Australian firms for the 3 years 2011–2013. The results of this study demonstrate the business case for corporate philanthropy and hence encourage corporate philanthropy by showing increasing firms’ investment in corporate giving as a percentage of profit before tax, increases the likelihood of an increase in shareholder value. However, the proviso is that firms must also manage their reputation risk at the same time. There is a negative association between corporate giving and shareholder value (Tobin’s Q) which is mitigated by firms’ management of reputation. The economic significance of this result is that for every cent in the dollar the firm spends on corporate giving, Tobin’s Q will decrease by 0.413 %. In contrast, if the firm increase their reputation by 1 point then Tobin’s Q will increase by 0.267 %. Consequently, the interaction of corporate giving and reputation risk management is positively associated with shareholder value. These results are robust while controlling for potential endogeneity and reverse causality. This paper assists both academics and practitioners by demonstrating that the benefits of corporate philanthropy extend beyond a gesture to improve reputation or an attempt to increase financial performance, to a direct collaboration between all the factors where the benefits far outweigh the costs.

Suggested Citation

  • Kate Hogarth & Marion Hutchinson & Wendy Scaife, 2018. "Corporate Philanthropy, Reputation Risk Management and Shareholder Value: A Study of Australian Corporate giving," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 151(2), pages 375-390, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:151:y:2018:i:2:d:10.1007_s10551-016-3205-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-016-3205-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-016-3205-8
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-016-3205-8?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. Michael C. Jensen, 2010. "Value Maximization, Stakeholder Theory, and the Corporate Objective Function," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 22(1), pages 32-42, January.
    2. S. Hansen & Benjamin Dunford & Alan Boss & R. Boss & Ingo Angermeier, 2011. "Corporate Social Responsibility and the Benefits of Employee Trust: A Cross-Disciplinary Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 102(1), pages 29-45, August.
    3. Elisabeth Sinnewe & Scott J. Niblock, 2015. "Trial by Media: An Empirical Investigation of Corporate Reputation and Stock Returns in Australia," Journal of Media Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(1), pages 41-60, March.
    4. Agrawal, Anup & Knoeber, Charles R., 1996. "Firm Performance and Mechanisms to Control Agency Problems between Managers and Shareholders," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 31(3), pages 377-397, September.
    5. Caroline D. Ditlev‐Simonsen & Atle Midttun, 2011. "What motivates managers to pursue corporate responsibility? a survey among key stakeholders," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 18(1), pages 25-38, January.
    6. Leslie Kren & Jeffrey Kerr, 1997. "The Effects of Outside Directors and Board Shareholdings on the Relation Between Chief Executive Compensation and Firm Performance," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(4), pages 297-309.
    7. Lukas Setia‐Atmaja & George A. Tanewski & Michael Skully, 2009. "The Role of Dividends, Debt and Board Structure in the Governance of Family Controlled Firms," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(7‐8), pages 863-898, September.
    8. Jun Su & Jia He, 2010. "Does Giving Lead to Getting? Evidence from Chinese Private Enterprises," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 93(1), pages 73-90, April.
    9. Arthur Gautier & Anne-Claire Pache, 2015. "Research on Corporate Philanthropy: A Review and Assessment," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 126(3), pages 343-369, February.
    10. Duane Windsor, 2006. "Corporate Social Responsibility: Three Key Approaches," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(1), pages 93-114, January.
    11. Anup Agrawal & Charles R. Knoeber, "undated". "Firm Performance and Mechanisms to Control Agency Problems between Managers and Shareholders (Revision of 29-94)," Rodney L. White Center for Financial Research Working Papers 8-96, Wharton School Rodney L. White Center for Financial Research.
    12. Stephen Brammer & Andrew Millington, 2004. "The Development of Corporate Charitable Contributions in the UK: A Stakeholder Analysis," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(8), pages 1411-1434, December.
    13. ØYvind Bøhren & R. Øystein Strøm, 2010. "Governance and Politics: Regulating Independence and Diversity in the Board Room," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(9‐10), pages 1281-1308, November.
    14. Noel Brown & Craig Deegan, 1998. "The public disclosure of environmental performance information—a dual test of media agenda setting theory and legitimacy theory," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(1), pages 21-41.
    15. Xuan Bai & Jeanine Chang, 2015. "Corporate social responsibility and firm performance: The mediating role of marketing competence and the moderating role of market environment," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 32(2), pages 505-530, June.
    16. Heli Wang & Jaepil Choi & Jiatao Li, 2008. "Too Little or Too Much? Untangling the Relationship Between Corporate Philanthropy and Firm Financial Performance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 19(1), pages 143-159, February.
    17. Kellie Liket & Ana Simaens, 2015. "Battling the Devolution in the Research on Corporate Philanthropy," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 126(2), pages 285-308, January.
    18. Anup Agrawal & Charles R. Knoeber, "undated". "Firm Performance and Mechanisms to Control Agency Problems between Managers and Shareholders (Revision of 29-94)," Rodney L. White Center for Financial Research Working Papers 08-96, Wharton School Rodney L. White Center for Financial Research.
    19. Collins, Marylyn, 1994. "Global corporate philanthropy and relationship marketing," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 12(2), pages 226-233, June.
    20. Tim Loughran & Bill Mcdonald, 2011. "When Is a Liability Not a Liability? Textual Analysis, Dictionaries, and 10‐Ks," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(1), pages 35-65, February.
    21. 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.
    22. Lukas Setia‐Atmaja & George A. Tanewski & Michael Skully, 2009. "The Role of Dividends, Debt and Board Structure in the Governance of Family Controlled Firms," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(7‐8), pages 863-898, September.
    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. Hadi Khan & Vatcharapol Sukhotu, 2020. "Influence of media exposure and Corporate Social Responsibility compliance on customer perception: The moderating role of Firm's reputation risk," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(5), pages 2107-2121, September.
    2. 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.
    3. Shuxia Zhang & Deyue Kong & Liping Xu & Ruiyu Xu, 2023. "Dual effects of corporate philanthropy on firm value: Evidence from China," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(4), pages 2314-2327, June.
    4. Li, Xinlan & Li, Changhong & Wang, Zhan & Jiao, Wenting & Pang, Yiwen, 2021. "The effect of corporate philanthropy on corporate performance of Chinese family firms: The moderating role of religious atmosphere," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    5. Adams, Dawda & Adams, Kweku & Attah-Boakye, Rexford & Ullah, Subhan & Rodgers, Waymond & Kimani, Danson, 2022. "Social and environmental practices and corporate financial performance of multinational corporations in emerging markets: Evidence from 20 oil-rich African countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    6. Ji, Mianmian & Lv, Wendai, 2022. "Demonstration zones reform and corporate philanthropy: Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    7. Zhou, Chao, 2022. "Global diversification, host-country environments, and corporate philanthropic giving: Evidence from Chinese multinational corporations," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    8. Mingchuan Yu & Han Lin & Greg G. Wang & Yuan Liu & Xiaotao Zheng, 2022. "Is too much as bad as too little? The S-curve relationship between corporate philanthropy and employee performance," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 39(4), pages 1511-1534, December.
    9. Trespeuch Léo & Robinot Élisabeth, 2023. "Exploring the Impact of Corporate Philanthropy on Brand Authenticity in the Luxury Industry: Scale Development and Empirical Studies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-21, August.
    10. Yang, Guang & Huang, Ruixian & Shi, Yukun & Jia, Zhehao, 2021. "Does a CEO's private reputation impede corporate governance?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    11. Mostafa Monzur Hasan & Ahsan Habib & Ruoyun Zhao, 2022. "Corporate reputation risk and cash holdings," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(1), pages 667-707, March.
    12. Mather, Paul & Ranasinghe, Dinithi & Unda, Luisa A., 2021. "Are gender diverse boards more cautious? The impact of board gender diversity on sentiment in earnings press releases," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(3).
    13. Wang, Aoran & Luo, Xian & Zeng, Ying & Zhang, Hao, 2022. "Foreign ownership and corporate philanthropy," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 46(PB).
    14. Jun Xie & Junyi Chen, 2021. "Corporate philanthropy, public awareness, and the cost of equity capital: Evidence from China," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 22(1), pages 153-194, May.
    15. Isabel Abínzano & Francisco J. López‐Arceiz & Idoia Zabaleta, 2023. "Can tax regulations moderate revenue diversification and reduce financial distress in nonprofit organizations?," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 94(1), pages 301-342, March.
    16. Isabell Koinig & Franzisca Weder, 2021. "Employee Representatives and a Good Working Life: Achieving Social and Communicative Sustainability for HRM," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-19, July.
    17. Shuxia Zhang & Liping Xu & Ning Liu, 2022. "Crowding‐in and crowding‐out effects of corporate philanthropy on R&D investment," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(6), pages 1835-1849, September.
    18. Lei Xu & Xiaoning Guo & Yan Liu & Xiaochen Sun & Jie Ji, 2022. "How Does Corporate Charitable Giving Affect Enterprise Innovation? A Literature Review and Research Directions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-21, November.
    19. Saeed, Abubakr & Ali, Ashiq & Azaaviele Liedong, Tahiru, 2024. "Parent firm reputational risk and TMT gender diversity of foreign subsidiaries," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    20. Christou, P. & Hadjielias, E. & Farmaki, A., 2019. "Reconnaissance of philanthropy," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 1-1.
    21. Zhi Su & Bo Yi & Linan Wang, 2022. "Is corporate philanthropy a pretext for executives' excess perk consumption? Evidence from China," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(8), pages 4010-4027, December.

    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. Lei Xu & Xiaoning Guo & Yan Liu & Xiaochen Sun & Jie Ji, 2022. "How Does Corporate Charitable Giving Affect Enterprise Innovation? A Literature Review and Research Directions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-21, November.
    2. Hussein Abedi Shamsabadi & Byung-Seong Min & Richard Chung, 2016. "Corporate governance and dividend strategy: lessons from Australia," International Journal of Managerial Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 12(5), pages 583-610, October.
    3. Shivan Sarpal, 2015. "Determinants of Corporate Board Independence: Empirical Evidence from India," Management and Labour Studies, XLRI Jamshedpur, School of Business Management & Human Resources, vol. 40(1-2), pages 52-74, February.
    4. Frederik Plewnia & Edeltraud Guenther, 2017. "The benefits of doing good: a meta-analysis of corporate philanthropy business outcomes and its implications for management control," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 28(3), pages 347-376, October.
    5. Aziz Jaafar & Lynn Hodgkinson & Mao-Feng Kao, 2019. "Ownership Structure, Board of Directors and Firm Performance: Evidence from Taiwan," Working Papers 19011, Bangor Business School, Prifysgol Bangor University (Cymru / Wales).
    6. Mulyani, Evy & Singh, Harminder & Mishra, Sagarika, 2016. "Dividends, leverage, and family ownership in the emerging Indonesian market," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 16-29.
    7. Hutchinson, Marion & Seamer, Michael & Chapple, Larelle (Ellie), 2015. "Institutional Investors, Risk/Performance and Corporate Governance," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 31-52.
    8. María Belén Lozano & Félix J. López‐Iturriaga & Victor Hugo Braz‐Bezerra, 2021. "Regulatory Dualism as an Alternative Trust‐Enhancing Mechanism for Dividends and Debt: Evidence from Brazil," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 21(1), pages 121-144, March.
    9. Cheng-Few Lee & Woan-lih Liang & Fu-Lai Lin & Yating Yang, 2016. "Applications of simultaneous equations in finance research: methods and empirical results," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 47(4), pages 943-971, November.
    10. Hoje Jo & Maretno Harjoto, 2011. "Corporate Governance and Firm Value: The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 103(3), pages 351-383, October.
    11. Hasan, Iftekhar & Karavitis, Panagiotis & Kazakis, Pantelis & Leung, Woon Sau, 2019. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Profit Shifting," MPRA Paper 91580, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Md Kamrul Islam & K. M. Shahriar Pervej & Younghwan Lee, 2022. "The impact of board characteristics on firm’s financial performance: A study on non-bank financial institutions of Bangladesh," International Journal of Science and Business, IJSAB International, vol. 12(1), pages 58-69.
    13. Muhammad Kaleem Khan & R. M. Ammar Zahid & Adil Saleem & Judit Sági, 2021. "Board Composition and Social & Environmental Accountability: A Dynamic Model Analysis of Chinese Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-18, September.
    14. Jia, Jing & Bradbury, Michael E., 2020. "Complying with best practice risk management committee guidance and performance," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(3).
    15. Amitava Roy, 2014. "Corporate Governance and Firm Performance: An Exploratory Analysis of Indian Listed Companies," Jindal Journal of Business Research, , vol. 3(1-2), pages 93-120, June.
    16. Jean-Christophe Duhamel & Réda Sefsaf, 2017. "Valeur de la gouvernance d'entreprise et gouvernance des valeurs de l'entreprise. Recherche sur les effets des codes de gouvernance et les stratégies de communication en matière de gouvernance," Working Papers halshs-01633982, HAL.
    17. Ruth V. Aguilera & Igor Filatotchev & Howard Gospel & Gregory Jackson, 2008. "An Organizational Approach to Comparative Corporate Governance: Costs, Contingencies, and Complementarities," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 19(3), pages 475-492, June.
    18. Christopher Groening & Vamsi K. Kanuri, 2018. "Investor Reactions to Concurrent Positive and Negative Stakeholder News," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 149(4), pages 833-856, June.
    19. Hutchinson, Marion & Gul, Ferdinand A., 2004. "Investment opportunity set, corporate governance practices and firm performance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 10(4), pages 595-614, September.
    20. Md. Kamrul Islam & Sugandha Mobin Sharna, 2022. "Do board characteristics affect financial performance of firms? An empirical study on Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) listed Insurance Companies of Bangladesh," International Journal of Science and Business, IJSAB International, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10.

    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:kap:jbuset:v:151:y:2018:i:2:d:10.1007_s10551-016-3205-8. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.