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Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Performance: The Influence of Boards, Ownership and Institutions

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  • Kurt A. Desender
  • Mircea Epure

Abstract

We analyze how ownership concentration and type, and board independence are related to corporate social performance (CSP). Drawing from agency and team production theories, we argue that the distribution of costs and benefits to shareholders and other stakeholders is crucial to understand what drives CSP. We analyze an international panel of listed firms and reveal that CSP is negatively related to ownership concentration, but positively to board independence. Furthermore, the ownership type and the business context matter. Ownership concentration is negatively related to CSP more strongly in shareholder-oriented societies. This negative relationship is weaker in egalitarian societies.

Suggested Citation

  • Kurt A. Desender & Mircea Epure, 2015. "Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Performance: The Influence of Boards, Ownership and Institutions," Working Papers 730, Barcelona School of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:bge:wpaper:730
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    4. Bannier, Christina E. & Bofinger, Yannik & Rock, Björn, 2019. "Doing safe by doing good: ESG investing and corporate social responsibility in the U.S. and Europe," CFS Working Paper Series 621, Center for Financial Studies (CFS).
    5. Bannier, Christina E. & Bofinger, Yannik & Rock, Björn, 2022. "Corporate social responsibility and credit risk," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    6. Licht, Amir N. & Adams, Renee B., 2020. "Shareholders and Stakeholders around the World: The Role of Values, Culture, and Law in Directors' Decisions," LawFin Working Paper Series 13, Goethe University, Center for Advanced Studies on the Foundations of Law and Finance (LawFin).
    7. Mohammed Abdullah Ammer & Meqbel Mishary Aliedan & Mansour Abdullah Alyahya, 2020. "Do Corporate Environmental Sustainability Practices Influence Firm Value? The Role of Independent Directors: Evidence from Saudi Arabia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-21, November.
    8. Florian Habermann & Felix Bernhard Fischer, 2023. "Corporate Social Performance and the Likelihood of Bankruptcy: Evidence from a Period of Economic Upswing," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 182(1), pages 243-259, January.
    9. Ajab Khan & H. Kent Baker, 2022. "How board diversity and ownership structure shape sustainable corporate performance," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(8), pages 3751-3770, December.
    10. Md. Abdul Kaium Masud & Mohammad Nurunnabi & Seong Mi Bae, 2018. "The effects of corporate governance on environmental sustainability reporting: empirical evidence from South Asian countries," Asian Journal of Sustainability and Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 1-26, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Corporate Governance; corporate social performance (responsibility); ownership; boards; institutions; Culture;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A13 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Relation of Economics to Social Values
    • G3 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance
    • M0 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - General
    • M1 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration
    • M14 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Corporate Culture; Diversity; Social Responsibility
    • M4 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting
    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting

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