Corporate Social Responsibility Programs Have Little Impact on Stock Performance
Corporate Social Responsibility Programs Have Little Impact on Stock Performance
August 25, 2011
Business & Management, Press Releases
BEER-SHEVA, ISRAEL, August 24, 2011 – Stocks of companies that are committed to corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies perform statistically similarly to those corporations that do not have these programs, according to a new study by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev researchers.
These findings were presented at the Ninth Annual International Conference on Business Accounting, Finance, Management & Marketing in Athens last month by Zvi Amrousy, an MBA student at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Some of the factors that define CSR include a company’s environmental impact, its interaction with the local community, as well as how it treats its workforce.
“While the CSR field has grown rapidly, the research findings on their impact on stock prices are inconsistent and ambiguous,” Amrousy says. “We decided to explore and test the relationship between CSR and financial performance.”
The study found that there was no statistical difference between the stock performance of these companies and their counterparts, and that investors who are targeting CSR investments may do so knowing they will perform similarly to non-CSR investments.
The researchers reviewed extensive data on 39 companies listed on the U.S. Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes from 2004 to 2009 and 19 companies listed on the Israeli MAALA CSR Index from July 2010. Amrousy, an MBA candidate at BGU’s Guilford Glazer Faculty of Business and Management, conducted this study as part of his master’s thesis under Prof. Rami Yosef, Dr. Ilanit Gavious and Dr. Hagai Katz, all of the Department of Business Administration.
Although the BGU researchers didn’t detect a difference in the statistical performance of CSR companies, they believe that greater importance is being placed on these policies and that investors will ultimately seek out companies with these initiatives. “Profits are no longer enough,” says Amrousy.
ABOUT AMERICANS FOR BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY
By supporting a world-class academic institution that not only nurtures the Negev, but also shares its expertise locally and globally, Americans for Ben-Gurion University engages a community of Americans who are committed to improving the world. David Ben-Gurion envisioned that Israel’s future would be forged in the Negev. The cutting-edge research carried out at Ben-Gurion University drives that vision by sustaining a desert Silicon Valley, with the “Stanford of the Negev” at its center. The Americans for Ben-Gurion University movement supports a 21st century unifying vision for Israel by rallying around BGU’s remarkable work and role as an apolitical beacon of light in the Negev desert.
About Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev embraces the endless potential we have as individuals and as a commonality to adapt and to thrive in changing environments. Inspired by our location in the desert, we aim to discover, to create, and to develop solutions to dynamic challenges, to pose questions that have yet to be asked, and to push beyond the boundaries of the commonly accepted and possible.
We are proud to be a central force for inclusion, diversity and innovation in Israel, and we strive to extend the Negev’s potential and our entrepreneurial spirit throughout the world. For example, the multi-disciplinary School for Sustainability and Climate Change at BGU leverages over 50 years of expertise on living and thriving in the desert into scalable solutions for people everywhere.
BGU at a glance:
20,000 students | 800 senior faculty | 3 campuses | 6 faculties: humanities & social sciences, health sciences, engineering sciences, natural sciences, business & management, and desert research.
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