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Article
Assessing the Long-Term Financial Performance of Ethical Companies
Journal of Targeting, Measurement, and Analysis for Marketing (2010)
  • Jin-Woo Kim, Georgia Southern University
Abstract
With the increased importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR), its impact on a firm's financial performance has been investigated in the marketing/finance interface. Prior research has found that CSR is positively related to firm market value, but most efforts have been focused on examining the relationship between CSR and short-term financial performance. Motivated by this research gap, this study attempts to uncover CSR's long-term financial performance using archival data on composite CSR scores and individual CSR dimensions. The results show that CSR is negatively related to a firm's systematic and unsystematic risks, suggesting that once recognized as ethical company, a firm can reduce its risks. Of the eight CSR dimensions, ‘Community’ and ‘Employee Relationship’ can be seen to lower systematic risk, whereas ‘Product/Customer’ and ‘Employee Relationship’ are the main drivers that enhance a firm's idiosyncratic return.
Keywords
  • corporate social responsibility,
  • financial performance,
  • marketing/finance interface
Publication Date
September, 2010
DOI
10.1057/jt.2010.8
Citation Information
Jin-Woo Kim. "Assessing the Long-Term Financial Performance of Ethical Companies" Journal of Targeting, Measurement, and Analysis for Marketing Vol. 18 Iss. 3 (2010) p. 199 - 208 ISSN: 1479-1862
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/jin-woo_kim/9/