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The Value of Employee Satisfaction in Disastrous Times: Evidence from COVID-19

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  • Chenyu Shan
  • Dragon Yongjun Tang

Abstract

Employee treatment is an important but challenging element of corporate environmental, social, and governance policies. Satisfying employee needs can increase corporate productivity, but is also costly to shareholders. Using unique data of Chinese publicly listed firms, we show that having satisfied employees is valuable to the firm. Specifically, firms with higher employee satisfaction scores withstand COVID-19 better, in terms of stock market performance. Such an effect is more pronounced for firms with more intangible assets and in knowledge-based industries. Moreover, higher employee satisfaction scores predict better operating performance. While not fully revealed in tranquil times, the effect of employee satisfaction is materialized when the firms experience negative shocks, such as COVID-19. Our findings suggest that firms can do well in crisis periods by doing good in normal times.

Suggested Citation

  • Chenyu Shan & Dragon Yongjun Tang, 2023. "The Value of Employee Satisfaction in Disastrous Times: Evidence from COVID-19," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 27(3), pages 1027-1076.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:revfin:v:27:y:2023:i:3:p:1027-1076.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/rof/rfac055
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    3. Koji Takahashi & Sumiko Takaoka, 2023. "How much do firms need to satisfy employees? - Evidence from credit spreads and online employee reviews," BIS Working Papers 1111, Bank for International Settlements.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Employee satisfaction; Shareholder value; Intangible assets; COVID-19;
    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
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance

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