Do Customers Value CSR Disclosure? Evidence from Italian Family and Non-Family Firms

Giovanna Gavana, Pietro Gottardo and Anna Maria Moisello
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Giovanna Gavana: Department of Economics, University of Insubria, 21100 Varese, Italy
Pietro Gottardo: Department of Economics and Management, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Anna Maria Moisello: Department of Economics and Management, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 5, 1-17

Abstract: CSR reporting is a relevant part of a firm’s dialogue with stakeholders, therefore it is of interest to study whether this form of communication is an effective tool for gaining customers’ support. This paper addresses this issue by comparing the effect of CSR disclosure on family and non-family firms’ revenues. In doing so, we analyze a sample of Italian non-financial listed firms and we control for the effect of visibility to stakeholders, governance characteristics, risk, and several accounting variables. We find that CSR reporting has a significant effect on revenues when a company is characterized by consumer proximity, in terms of product or services visibility for consumers, but that the effect is positive for family firms and negative for non-family companies.

Keywords: CSR disclosure; family firms; consumers; visibility; socioemotional wealth; legitimacy; stakeholders (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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