Corporate social responsibility and CEO confidence

Scott McCarthy, Barry Oliver and Sizhe Song

Journal of Banking & Finance, 2017, vol. 75, issue C, 280-291

Abstract: This study examines the relationship between firm corporate social responsibility (CSR) and CEO confidence. Research shows that CSR has a hedging feature. Research also shows that more confident CEOs underestimate firm risks, which, in turn, leads them to undertake relatively less hedging. Consistent with this, we find that CEO confidence is negatively related to the level of CSR. Closer analysis shows that this effect is stronger in the institutional aspects of CSR, such as community and workforce diversity, rather than in the technical aspects of CSR, such as corporate governance and product quality. Our results are robust to different competing explanations, including narcissism, which refers in this context to CEOs who engage in CSR to attract attention and alternative proxies for CSR and CEO confidence.

Keywords: Corporate social responsibility; Overconfidence; Behavioral finance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G02 G32 G34 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (61)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jbfina:v:75:y:2017:i:c:p:280-291

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbankfin.2016.11.024

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