Investor Sentiment for Corporate Social Performance

We document time varying investor sentiment for corporate social responsibility (“CSR”) performance. We show that announcements of CSR activities generate positive abnormal returns during periods when investors place a valuation premium on CSR performance. In addition, we find that firms boost CSR performance in response to investor sentiment, and that this response is more pronounced for those firms that are more inclined to respond to investor sentiment due to valuation uncertainty and investor horizon. Our results suggest that investor sentiment plays a role in firms’ commitment to CSR.

Keywords: , Investor Sentiment, Corporate Social Responsibility

JEL Classification: M41, D82, G14, G30, G31, G32, G34

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Naughton, James P. and Wang, Clare and Yeung, Ira, Investor Sentiment for Corporate Social Performance (October 21, 2018). The Accounting Review, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2604558