Suchergebnisse

Purpose
This paper aims to ascertain Indian consumers' corporate social responsibility (CSR) perceptions; an affinity for stipulated causes and perceived fit between cause and industry in the current mandatory CSR era in India.


Design/methodology/approach
Primary data was collected through an online survey from 1,251 consumers via quota sampling and snowballing, across 36 Indian cities.


Findings
The findings indicate no skepticism, positive CSR support and company evaluation. Indian consumers have the greatest affinity for environmental protection. Segments of socially, environmentally and culturally conscious consumers were found. Under quasi-experimental conditions of CSR fit and cause-affinity, positive purchase intention is exhibited across fast-moving-consumer-goods sectors; in which case CSR perceptions cease to have a significant impact on purchase intention.


Research limitations/implications
This result contributes to understanding Indian consumers' perspective in the mandatory CSR era and adds to the literature on strategic CSR and communication by segmenting consumers by cause affinity.


Practical implications
CSR practitioners could align with consumer-relevant causes that fit with their company's core business, as controllable initiatives, instead of depending on positive, but less controllable, CSR perceptions of consumers. Implications of the findings on CSR policymaking by the government are also discussed.


Social implications
The mandatory CSR law has been viewed as a burden by corporate India. This research implies that it may be possible to look at it as an opportunity for strategic CSR, to create a win-win situation for both business and society.


Originality/value
One of the first studies on cause-affinity and CSR fit among Indian consumers using the government stipulated list of causes.

The present study examines the relevance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) expenditure to the firms in the mandatory regime in India. The paper has its theoretical basis from the instrumental aspect of the Stakeholder theory, which assumes a positive influence of CSR over financial performance. Therefore, the study hypothesizes that the firms which fulfill the CSR expenditure requirement will exhibit higher stock returns and lower systematic risk. Since India mandated CSR in the year 2014, the data of four years (2016-2019) for the sample of 426 National Stock Exchange (NSE) listed Indian firms are taken to employ the OLS regression method. The CSR expenditure in the mandatory regime was not found to be relevant to the firms because of an insignificant positive impact of mandatory CSR expenditure on stock returns. Thus, the instrumental aspect is not supported by the findings. However, the findings indicate a decrease in the systematic risk of the firms. Only a few studies in India investigated this phenomenon in the mandatory regime. Further, the contributions of the study to the CSR literature are fairly useful from the perspective of firms, investors, policy-makers, regulators, scholars, and countries that are planning for legislating CSR.

The Taiwanese government altered its corporate social responsibility (CSR) report management policy from voluntary disclosure and assurance of CSR reports to partial mandatory disclosure and partial mandatory assurance. This paper examines this policy's effects on analyst forecast. The empirical results showed that the mandatory disclosure policy on CSR reports significantly increased analyst forecast accuracy and reduced analyst forecast dispersion. Furthermore, the study found that analyst forecast accuracy was further increased when CSR reports were forced to undergo accountant assurance than those without mandatory accountant assurance which means that the mandatory assurance policy on CSR reports significantly further increased analyst forecast accuracy.

The impact of COVID-19 on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) continues to be researched. Initial signals warn of significant setbacks in achieving SDG targets by 2030. The achievement of SDGs could abet improved protection from future pandemics. This article suggests reprioritizing SDGs to facilitate a more robust global response to future pandemics. Specifically, we recommend that SDGs 3, 6, 5 and 4 (in that order) are prioritized in order to optimize efforts at a more inclusive and resilient socio-economic recovery post-pandemic. This paper suggests that mandatory CSR regimes enable governments, in combination with corporate fiscal resources, to influence the selection and progress of these SDGs. The case of India's mandatory CSR regime is employed to illustrate our position. This study extends the debate on SDGs by raising the possibility of universal concentration on a few critical SDGs.

Purpose
This paper aims to analyse the effect of mandatory corporate social responsibility expenditure (CSRE) on the performance of food and agribusiness firms in India.


Design/methodology/approach
This study is based on the firm-level data collected from the Prowess database of the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy in the year 2019. The data on key characteristics, business performance and CSRE has been compiled from 362 food and agribusiness firms. The descriptive statistics, t-test for equality of means and Spearman correlation analysis have been undertaken to understand the relationship between mandatory CSRE and firm performance across food and agribusiness sectors.


Findings
Out of 362 food and agribusiness firms, 52.2% have reported expenditure in the implementation of social initiatives under their corporate social responsibility. The results show a significant difference in the firm's characteristics vis-à-vis with and without CSRE. Further, the findings highlight a positive and significant correlation and causal impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on return on sales, return on assets and profit after tax.


Practical implications
The study provides insights for implementing strategic CSR in food and agribusiness firms and gives an adequate justification for incurring CSRE.


Originality/value
This paper increases the understanding of CSR in the food and agribusiness sector. Besides, provisioning mandatory CSR seems to be a beneficial proposition for enhancing a firm's performance.

AbstractThere has been a lot of discussion on the shift from voluntary to mandatory corporate social responsibility (CSR) and its impacts in different countries across the globe. India is unique in this context as the reporting and expenditure of a certain amount under CSR has been mandated for companies. This article analyzes the changes and responses of Indian businesses post‐2014, when new CSR rules were enacted. The key objectives of this study are to assess the level of awareness and compliance, thematic and geographical focus areas for CSR projects, and drivers and barriers to the adoption of mandatory CSR. We performed a secondary analysis of the data from 60 companies, followed by extensive primary research through in‐person interviews and offline questionnaire responses with 100 key CSR professionals from different companies in India. A key finding from the study is that the awareness of CSR policy and the pool of CSR funds has increased. The policy mandates have been a good driver in improving transparency and reporting quality. However, there is a predominant focus on four thematic areas of education, healthcare, hunger, and poverty alleviation despite the government's efforts to expand in other areas. The geographical spread of expenditure is limited to a few key industrial states in India, limiting CSR's contribution towards national development. The study adds to the CSR literature associated with institutional and stakeholder theories by looking at the response of legally bound organizations toward society and the environment. Finally, the study provides valuable information for governments and regulatory authorities considering the mandatory implementation of CSR expenditure across the globe.

The impact of COVID-19 on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) continues to be researched. Initial signals warn of significant setbacks in achieving SDG targets by 2030. The achievement of SDGs could abet improved protection from future pandemics. This article suggests reprioritizing SDGs to facilitate a more robust global response to future pandemics. Specifically, we recommend that SDGs 3, 6, 5 and 4 (in that order) are prioritized in order to optimize efforts at a more inclusive and resilient socio-economic recovery post-pandemic. This paper suggests that mandatory CSR regimes enable governments, in combination with corporate fiscal resources, to influence the selection and progress of these SDGs. The case of India's mandatory CSR regime is employed to illustrate our position. This study extends the debate on SDGs by raising the possibility of universal concentration on a few critical SDGs.

This research seeks to determine whether mandated corporate social responsibility (CSR) is value relevant to investors. Specifically, this study is centered around the Companies Act, 2013 passed in India on August 29. The legislation requires companies with a net worth of at least five hundred crore rupees (Rs 5 billion), or with a turnover of at least one thousand crore rupees (Rs 10 billion), or a with a net profit of at least five crore rupees (Rs 50 million) to spend at least 2% of the average net profits of its last three financial years on supporting social initiatives. Using the event study methodology, this study observes the share prices of companies listed in the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) around the passing of the legislation. It was found that the cumulative abnormal returns (CAR) surrounding the passing of the legislation are significantly different from zero and negative, indicating, negative reaction from investors. The analysis than focuses on companies that were affected by the legislation. The study tests for difference in CAR of affected companies that were included in the S&P BSE Greenex Index and the S&P BSE Carbonex Index with CAR of affected companies that were not included in these index. These two index include companies that are considered environmentally friendly. The analysis finds that CAR of affected companies included in the S&P Greenex and S&P Carbonex Index are significantly different from CAR of other affected companies. The CAR of companies that are considered environmentally friend is significantly better compared to other affected firms. This finding suggests that mandating CSR is relevant to investors. Furthermore, firms that are already involved in CSR, thus, considered environmentally friendly, are the least affected by the legislation. These companies are large companies that were part of the S&P BSE 100, the 100 largest companies in BSE, hence, are arguably scrutinized more compared to smaller companies. Their asset size, net worth, and ...

Purpose
This paper aims to investigate whether executive compensation, corporate social responsibility (CSR)-based incentives, environmental social and governance (ESG) performance and firm performance are the significant predictors of CSR committees, in addition to CEO, firm and corporate governance characteristics, from the tenet of stakeholder and managerial power theories.


Design/methodology/approach
Switzerland is an exemplary country from the perspective of corporate governance and executive compensation. This empirical study includes a panel data set of listed Swiss companies, so fixed-effect logistic regression has been used.


Findings
It has been found that the companies that offer CSR-based incentives and higher compensation to their CEOs and have better ESG performance are more likely to have CSR committees.


Practical implications
This empirical paper fills the gap in the literature, guides practitioners about the factors that influence the creation and efficiency of CSR committees, and inspires regulatory bodies to ponder on a mandatory CSR committee to form resilient and sustainable organizations worldwide.


Social implications
COVID-19 has re-emphasized the prominence of sustainability and the stakeholder approach. Thus, this paper indicates that CSR committees require the adaption and implementation of a holistic sustainability policy that integrates both external and internal factors and thereby provides a whole process for sustainability issues.


Originality/value
The impact of CSR committees on corporate social performance (CSP) has already been investigated. However, the predictors of CSR committees have been less scrutinized in the literature.