IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/oup/oxford/v33y2017i2p278-316..html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Corporate donations and shareholder value

Author

Listed:
  • Hao Liang
  • Luc Renneboog

Abstract

Do corporate donations enhance shareholder wealth or reflect agency problems? We address this question for a global sample of firms whereby we distinguish between charitable and political donations, as well as between donations in cash and in kind. We find that charitable donations are positively related to financial performance and firm value, which is consistent with the value-enhancement hypothesis. This positive effect on firm value is stronger for cash than in-kind donations. In contrast, political donations do not appear to enhance shareholder value, but rather tend to reflect agency problems, as they are higher for firms with poor internal corporate governance and strong managerial entrenchment. We address endogeneity concerns by using peer firms’ donations as an instrument in a two-stage least squares (2SLS) setting and by conducting a difference-in-difference analysis around a general election.

Suggested Citation

  • Hao Liang & Luc Renneboog, 2017. "Corporate donations and shareholder value," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 33(2), pages 278-316.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:oxford:v:33:y:2017:i:2:p:278-316.
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/oxrep/grx024
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

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

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Navarro, Peter, 1988. "Why Do Corporations Give to Charity?," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 61(1), pages 65-93, January.
    2. Rajan, Raghuram G. & Wulf, Julie, 2006. "Are perks purely managerial excess?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(1), pages 1-33, January.
    3. Claessens, Stijn & Feijen, Erik & Laeven, Luc, 2008. "Political connections and preferential access to finance: The role of campaign contributions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(3), pages 554-580, June.
    4. Daryl Koehn & Joe Ueng, 2010. "Is philanthropy being used by corporate wrongdoers to buy good will?," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 14(1), pages 1-16, February.
    5. 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.
    6. Yermack, David, 2009. "Deductio' ad absurdum: CEOs donating their own stock to their own family foundations," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(1), pages 107-123, October.
    7. La Porta, Rafael & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert, 2000. "Investor protection and corporate governance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(1-2), pages 3-27.
    8. Mara Faccio, 2010. "Differences between Politically Connected and Nonconnected Firms: A Cross‐Country Analysis," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 39(3), pages 905-928, September.
    9. Aggarwal, Rajesh K. & Meschke, Felix & Wang, Tracy Yue, 2012. "Corporate Political Donations: Investment or Agency?," Business and Politics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(1), pages 1-38, April.
    10. Liang, Hao & Renneboog, Luc & Sun, Sunny Li, 2015. "The political determinants of executive compensation: Evidence from an emerging economy," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 69-91.
    11. Ferrell, Allen & Liang, Hao & Renneboog, Luc, 2016. "Socially responsible firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(3), pages 585-606.
    12. Milton Friedman, 1971. "A Theoretical Framework for Monetary Analysis," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number frie71-1.
    13. Boatsman, James R. & Gupta, Sanjay, 1996. "Taxes and Corporate Charity: Empirical Evidence from Micro-Level Panel Data," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 49(2), pages 193-213, June.
    14. Paul Gompers & Joy Ishii & Andrew Metrick, 2003. "Corporate Governance and Equity Prices," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(1), pages 107-156.
    15. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1998. "Law and Finance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 106(6), pages 1113-1155, December.
    16. Joshua D. Angrist & Jörn-Steffen Pischke, 2009. "Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 8769.
    17. Eitan Goldman & Jörg Rocholl & Jongil So, 2009. "Do Politically Connected Boards Affect Firm Value?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(6), pages 2331-2360, June.
    18. Michael J. Cooper & Huseyin Gulen & Alexei V. Ovtchinnikov, 2010. "Corporate Political Contributions and Stock Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(2), pages 687-724, April.
    19. Andreoni, James, 1990. "Impure Altruism and Donations to Public Goods: A Theory of Warm-Glow Giving?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 100(401), pages 464-477, June.
    20. Jayachandran, Seema, 2006. "The Jeffords Effect," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 49(2), pages 397-425, October.
    21. Weisbach, Michael S., 1988. "Outside directors and CEO turnover," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(1-2), pages 431-460, January.
    22. Brown, William O. & Helland, Eric & Smith, Janet Kiholm, 2006. "Corporate philanthropic practices," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 12(5), pages 855-877, December.
    23. Faccio, Mara & Parsley, David C., 2009. "Sudden Deaths: Taking Stock of Geographic Ties," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(3), pages 683-718, June.
    24. Dennis Patten, 2008. "Does the Market Value Corporate Philanthropy? Evidence from the Response to the 2004 Tsunami Relief Effort," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 81(3), pages 599-607, September.
    25. Ronny Manos & Israel Drori (ed.), 2016. "Corporate Responsibility," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-137-45072-2, December.
    26. Lucian Bebchuk & Alma Cohen & Allen Ferrell, 2009. "What Matters in Corporate Governance?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(2), pages 783-827, February.
    27. Matthew D. Hill & G. Wayne Kelly & G. Brandon Lockhart & Robert A. Ness, 2013. "Determinants and Effects of Corporate Lobbying," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 42(4), pages 931-957, December.
    28. R. A. Schwartz, 1968. "Corporate Philanthropic Contributions," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 23(3), pages 479-497, June.
    29. Aggarwal Rajesh K. & Meschke Felix & Wang Tracy Yue, 2012. "Corporate Political Donations: Investment or Agency?," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 14(1), pages 1-40, April.
    30. Duchin, Ran & Sosyura, Denis, 2012. "The politics of government investment," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(1), pages 24-48.
    31. Petrovits, Christine M., 2006. "Corporate-sponsored foundations and earnings management," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 335-362, September.
    32. Fama, Eugene F, 1980. "Agency Problems and the Theory of the Firm," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 88(2), pages 288-307, April.
    33. Boatsman, James R. & Gupta, Sanjay, 1996. "Taxes and Corporate Charity: Empirical Evidence from Micro Level Panel Data," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 49(2), pages 193, June.
    34. Ronald W. Masulis & Syed Walid Reza, 2015. "Agency Problems of Corporate Philanthropy," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 28(2), pages 592-636.
    35. Boatsman, James R. & Gupta, Sanjay, 1996. "Taxes and Corporate Charity: Empirical Evidence From Micro Level Panel Data," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 49(2), pages 193-193, June.
    36. Daniel W. Elfenbein & Brian McManus, 2010. "A Greater Price for a Greater Good? Evidence That Consumers Pay More for Charity-Linked Products," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 2(2), pages 28-60, May.
    37. Mike Adams & Philip Hardwick, 1998. "An Analysis of Corporate Donations: United Kingdom Evidence," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(5), pages 641-654, September.
    38. Raymond Fisman, 2001. "Estimating the Value of Political Connections," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(4), pages 1095-1102, September.
    39. Baruch Lev & Christine Petrovits & Suresh Radhakrishnan, 2010. "Is doing good good for you? how corporate charitable contributions enhance revenue growth," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(2), pages 182-200, February.
    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. Chourou, Lamia, 2023. "Corporate donations and religiosity: Cross-country evidence," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    2. Zhe Li & Ping Wang & Tianlong Wu, 2021. "Do foreign institutional investors drive corporate social responsibility? Evidence from listed firms in China," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1-2), pages 338-373, January.
    3. Zhe Li & Ping Wang, 2023. "Cross‐border mergers and acquisitions and corporate social responsibility: Evidence from Chinese listed firms," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1-2), pages 335-376, January.
    4. Xiaoling Yu & Kaitian Xiao, 2022. "Does ESG Performance Affect Firm Value? Evidence from a New ESG-Scoring Approach for Chinese Enterprises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-40, December.
    5. Anh Dang & Trung Nguyen, 2021. "Valuation Effect of Emotionality in Corporate Philanthropy," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 173(1), pages 47-67, September.
    6. Chourou, Lamia & Elmawazini, Khaled & Hossain, Ashrafee, 2022. "Does empathy induce higher corporate prosocial behavior? Evidence from corporate giving," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    7. Zheng, Zhigang & Li, Jiarong & Ren, Xingzi & Guo, Jie Michael, 2023. "Does corporate ESG create value? New evidence from M&As in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    8. María Lourdes Arco-Castro & María Victoria Lopez-Pérez & Sara Rodriguez-Gomez & Raquel Garde-Sánchez, 2020. "Do Stakeholders Modulate Philanthropic Strategy? Corporate Philanthropy as Stakeholders’ Engagement," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-18, September.
    9. Houqe, Muhammad Nurul & van Zijl, Tony & Karim, A.K.M. Waresul & George, Thomas St, 2021. "The value relevance of corporate donations," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    10. Dodd, Olga & Frijns, Bart & Garel, Alexandre, 2022. "Cultural diversity among directors and corporate social responsibility," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    11. Gillan, Stuart L. & Koch, Andrew & Starks, Laura T., 2021. "Firms and social responsibility: A review of ESG and CSR research in corporate finance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    12. Oğuzhan Bahadır & Sergen Akarsu, 2024. "Does Company Information Environment Affect ESG–Financial Performance Relationship? Evidence from European Markets," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-26, March.
    13. Liu, Haiming & Chiang, Yao-Min, 2024. "Employment protection and environmental corporate social responsibility: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    14. Luo, Di, 2022. "ESG, liquidity, and stock returns," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    15. Li, Shengnan & Zheng, Xinya & Liao, Jing & Niu, Jianbo, 2024. "Low-carbon city pilot policy and corporate environmental performance: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 89(PA), pages 1248-1266.
    16. Liping Xu & Shuxia Zhang & Ning Liu & Li Chen, 2018. "Corporate Hypocrisy: Role of Non-Profit Corporate Foundations in Earnings Management of For-Profit Founder Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-24, November.
    17. Wang, Yang & Zhang, Yifei & Kang, Wei & Ahmed, Ahmed Hassan, 2022. "Female analysts and COVID-19 corporate donation," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    18. Eskantar, Marianna & Zopounidis, Constantin & Doumpos, Michalis & Galariotis, Emilios & Guesmi, Khaled, 2024. "Navigating ESG complexity: An in-depth analysis of sustainability criteria, frameworks, and impact assessment," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 95(PA).
    19. Xiao, Gang & Shen, Sichen, 2022. "To pollute or not to pollute: Political connections and corporate environmental performance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    20. Huarng, Kun-Huang & Yu, Tiffany Hui-Kuang, 2024. "Causal complexity analysis of ESG performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    21. Ling, Leng & Luo, Danglun & Li, Xiaoxia & Pan, Xintong, 2022. "Looking good by doing good: CEO attractiveness and corporate philanthropy11We thank the co-editor (Suqin Ge) and the referees for many valuable comments and suggestions. We thank Huimin Li and Jing Sh," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    22. Beatriz Casais & Sara Santos, 2018. "Corporate Propensity for Long-Term Donations to Non-Profit Organisations: An Exploratory Study in Portugal," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-10, December.
    23. Keling Wang & Yaqiong Miao & Ching-Hui (Joan) Su & Ming-Hsiang Chen & Zhongjun Wu & Tie Wang, 2019. "Does Corporate Charitable Giving Help Sustain Corporate Performance in China?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-17, March.
    24. Zhihong Mao & Siyang Wang & Yu‐En Lin, 2024. "ESG, ESG rating divergence and earnings management: Evidence from China," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(4), pages 3328-3347, July.

    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. 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.
    2. Adelino, Manuel & Dinc, I. Serdar, 2014. "Corporate distress and lobbying: Evidence from the Stimulus Act," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(2), pages 256-272.
    3. Elvira Sojli & Wing Wah Tham, 2017. "Foreign political connections," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 48(2), pages 244-266, February.
    4. Elmar A. Janssen, 2014. "Do Election Results Affect the Value of Politically Connected Firms? - The Effect of the Schroeder-Merkel Change of Government on German Prime Standard Firms," Working Papers Dissertations 05, Paderborn University, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics.
    5. Ferrell, Allen & Liang, Hao & Renneboog, Luc, 2016. "Socially responsible firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(3), pages 585-606.
    6. Ormazabal, Gaizka, 2018. "The Role of Stakeholders in Corporate Governance: A View from Accounting Research," CEPR Discussion Papers 12775, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    7. Cull, Robert & Li, Wei & Sun, Bo & Xu, Lixin Colin, 2015. "Government connections and financial constraints: Evidence from a large representative sample of Chinese firms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 271-294.
    8. Duquette, Nicolas J. & Ohrn, Eric C., 2018. "Corporate charitable foundations, executive entrenchment, and shareholder distributions," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 235-253.
    9. Miroslav Palanský, 2021. "The value of political connections in the post-transition period: evidence from Czechia," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 188(1), pages 121-154, July.
    10. Hui Chen & David Parsley & Ya-Wen Yang, 2015. "Corporate Lobbying and Firm Performance," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(3-4), pages 444-481, April.
    11. Barraza, Santiago & Rossi, Martín A & Ruzzier, Christian A, 2022. "Sleeping with the enemy: The perils of having the government on(the)board," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 641-651.
    12. Ateeq ur Rehman Irshad & Nabeel Safdar & Wajiha Manzoor, 2023. "Predicting Efficiency of Innovative Disaster Response Practices: Case Study of China’s Corporate Philanthropy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-15, January.
    13. Brown, Jeffrey R. & Huang, Jiekun, 2020. "All the president's friends: Political access and firm value," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(2), pages 415-431.
    14. Tahoun, Ahmed, 2014. "The role of stock ownership by US members of Congress on the market for political favors," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(1), pages 86-110.
    15. Woon Leong Lin, 2018. "Do Firm’s Organisational Slacks Influence the Relationship between Corporate Lobbying and Corporate Financial Performance? More Is Not Always Better," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-23, December.
    16. Omer Unsal & M. Kabir Hassan & William J. Hippler, 2016. "Lobbying in Finance Industry: Evidence from US Banking System," NFI Working Papers 2017-WP-03, Indiana State University, Scott College of Business, Networks Financial Institute.
    17. Cowan, Adrian & Huang, Chia-Hsing & Padmanabhan, Prasad & Wang, Chi-Hui, 2013. "The determinants of foreign giving: An exploratory empirical investigation of US manufacturing firms," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 407-420.
    18. Thomas Stratmann & J.W. Verret, 2015. "How Does Corporate Political Activity Allowed by Citizens United v. FEC Affect Shareholder Wealth?," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 58(3).
    19. Croci, Ettore & Pantzalis, Christos & Park, Jung Chul & Petmezas, Dimitris, 2017. "The role of corporate political strategies in M&As," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 260-287.
    20. Ahmed Tahoun & Florin P. Vasvari, 2016. "Political Lending," Working Papers Series 47, Institute for New Economic Thinking.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    corporate social responsibility; corporate philanthropy; charitable donations; political donations; corporate foundation; corporate governance; firm value;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G3 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance
    • I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty

    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:oup:oxford:v:33:y:2017:i:2:p:278-316.. 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: Oxford University Press (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://academic.oup.com/oxrep .

    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.