Board Interlocks, Career Prospects, and Corporate Social Responsibility

Accounting and Finance, Forthcoming

55 Pages Posted: 24 Sep 2019 Last revised: 15 May 2023

See all articles by Lai Van Vo

Lai Van Vo

Western Connecticut State University

Huong T. T. Le

Northeastern Illinois University

Youngbin Kim

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Date Written: May 15, 2023

Abstract

This paper investigates how director career concerns affect the relation between board interlocks and corporate social responsibility (CSR). We first document that firms with central or well-connected boards of directors tend to invest more in CSR. We then show that the positive relation between board connectedness and CSR is significantly more pronounced for firms whose directors’ future careers would benefit more from CSR, such as those with better corporate governance, firms with larger investments in research and development (R&D), or firms with high product market threats. Our findings suggest that director career concerns play an important role in the board of directors’ decision in CSR investments.

Keywords: board connectedness, board interlock, corporate social responsibility, director career concern, director reputation

JEL Classification: G30, G14, L14, Z13

Suggested Citation

Vo, Lai Van and Le, Huong T. T. and Kim, Youngbin, Board Interlocks, Career Prospects, and Corporate Social Responsibility (May 15, 2023). Accounting and Finance, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3453776 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3453776

Lai Van Vo (Contact Author)

Western Connecticut State University ( email )

Danbury, CT 06810
United States
203-837-9379 (Phone)

Huong T. T. Le

Northeastern Illinois University ( email )

Chicago, IL 60625
United States

Youngbin Kim

affiliation not provided to SSRN

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