Corporate Social and Financial Performance in Chemical Industry in the United States

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of corporation social performance (CSP) on corporate financial performance (CFP). This study uses return on assets (ROA) to measure corporate financial performance. This study uses KLD index and TRI index to measure corporate social performance separately. Using ordinary least squares (OLS) regression to analyze data from the sample of 123 U.S chemical firms from 2009-2018, this paper finds that KLD index has a significantly positive impact on CFP, while TRI index does not have a significantly impact on CFP. Meanwhile, this paper also finds that the seven individual dimensions of CSP have a significantly impact on CFP except for the environment dimension. The result contributes to the effect of CSP measurement methods in a single industry and the impact of various dimensions of CSP,expands the importance of CSP measurement methods from cross-industry research to single industry research.

Keywords: Corporation Financial Performance (CFP), Corporate Social Performance (CSP), Chemical Industry

JEL Classification: M14, M41, G30