Employee benefit programs and corporate social responsibility: the impacts of flexibility- and stability-enhancing programs

Jegoo Lee

International Review of Applied Economics, 2025, vol. 39, issue 4-5, 750-767

Abstract: Research on the spillover effects of employee benefit programs (EBPs) has focused on employees’ engagement in activities outside the firm. This study extends this research stream by proposing that employees who benefit from EBPs also contribute to firms’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts aimed at customers, a primary external stakeholder group. This study proposes two mechanisms, flexibility and stability, that enhance the link between EBPs and CSR engagement. Specifically, this study conceptually categorises firms’ profit-sharing programs as flexibility-enhancing EBPs and employee stock ownership and employee stock purchase plans as stability-enhancing ones. The empirical analyses of U.S. companies listed on the S&P500 show that flexibility-enhancing EBPs are positively associated with customer-focused CSR, especially product quality and safety. Moreover, both EBP types significantly enhance comprehensive customer-focused CSR. These findings have implications for understanding how a firm’s EBPs, such as profit-sharing and employee stock ownership, are associated with its CSR engagements.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1080/02692171.2025.2453179

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