Does social capital influence corporate risk-taking?

This paper explores the influence of social capital on corporate risk-taking using a large sample of publicly traded US firms. We predict that firms with high social capital display a higher level of risk-taking behavior. Consistent with our prediction, we find a negative relationship between corporate risk-taking and social capital. This paper shows that the social environment transmits valuable capital to individuals and thereby influences their corporate decision-making process. We also find that the combined effects of excessive risk-taking and social capital result in value destruction to the firm. Our test results are robust to alternatives measures of risk-taking, addressing endogeneity issues, and alternative model specifications. The paper contributes to the finance literature by demonstrating social capital as an important determinant in the corporate decision-making process, particularly in corporate risk-taking decisions. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.