The fit between corporate social responsibility and corporate governance: the impact on a firm's financial performance

This study asserts that the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and a firm's financial performance needs to be examined with reference to the 'fit' between CSR and corporate governance (CG). Therefore, we develop a model to analyze the moderating effects of corporate governance characteristics (board size, ownership concentration, board gender diversity and board independence) on the CSR-firm's financial performance link (measured by Tobin's q). The model is tested on a sample of 17,500 observations over an 11-year period and mainly finds support for the moderated hypotheses. The findings indicate that while board size and gender diversity moderate the CSR-firm's financial performance link positively, CSR interacting with ownership concentration negatively impacts a firm's financial performance. In addition, we find no support that board independence moderates the CSR-firm's financial performance link. We advance CSR research by demonstrating the moderating effects of corporate governance characteristics on the CSR-firm's financial performance link.

Automated summary

This study examines the moderating effects of corporate governance characteristics on the relationship between corporate social responsibility and firm financial performance. The findings suggest that board size and gender diversity positively moderate this relationship, while interaction between CSR and ownership concentration negatively impacts a firm's financial performance.