Over the past decade, sustainability has emerged as one of the foremost issues faced by corporations across all sectors and Corporate Social Responsibility has gained much momentum in the past two decades. This research investigated whether investors in emerging markets are equally concerned about a firm’s social and environmental impacts as their counterparts in developed economies. The aim was to ascertain whether or not a correlation exists between CSR and stock market performance of South African listed companies. This was the first study undertaken in South Africa that specifically investigated the relative performances of SRI listed and non-SRI listed companies. The findings reveal that there are observable differences between the average market returns of the FTSE/JSE Socially Responsible Investment Index and the FTSE/JSE All Share Index, as well as the average price/earnings ratios and average price/book value ratios of all companies listed the JSE Main Board. Although two out of the three hypotheses failed to yield significant statistical outcomes, all the findings were in favour of the SRI. The research has opened up the avenue for future studies to investigate the purported links between sustainability and financial performance in the context of emerging markets. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a widely disputed and constantly evolving topic. One of the most recent methods of assessing CSR in South Africa has been through the usage of the Financial Times Stock Exchange/Johannesburg Stock Exchange (FTSE/JSE) Responsible Investment Index. The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) Socially Responsible Investment Index (SRI Index) was founded in 2004 and was replaced by the FTSE/JSE Responsible Investment Index in 2015. The index evaluates listed firms based on their triple bottom line performance i.e., environment, society, and economy. The index includes companies that are thought to have good CSR policies. This study assesses the effects of CSR on the Corporate Financial Performance (CFP) of firms listed on the JSE that were included in the FTSE/JSE All Share Index (ALSI) as of the 31st of January 2021. This it does by analyzing the stock's financial performance over a five-year period between the 2015 and 2019 financial years. The requirements for stocks to be included in this study is that they must have had an average market capitalization between R2 billion and R100 billion between the 2015 and 2019 financial years and are not part of the real estate sector. The results of the nonparametric (Mann-Whitney) tests show that companies that are part of the FTSE/JSE Responsible Investment Index perform better on average than those that are not included in the index. This conclusion is based on a review of the total return index (TRI), return on equity ratio (ROE), price-earnings ratio (PE), and the market-to-book ratio (MB). The analysis conducted using the net profit margin (NPM) as a measure of financial performance show that there is no relationship between CSR and financial performance. The Mann-Whitney test results where the return on assets (ROA) ratio was used showed a negative relationship between CSR and financial performance.

Given that Sweden is one of the most sustainable countries in the world (RobecoSAM, 2018), with a big number of its companies as active participants in CSR, we investigate the impact that these CSR activities could have on CFP with a focus on the Financial sector, using in 26 listed Financial Institutions. As we will find out from the existing literature, the CSR-CFP relationship is neither strictly negative nor positive. If it is positive, then the firm will allocate more resources to CSR to achieve better financial performance, and the firm may fore-go or approach CSR initiatives with caution if they affect CFP negatively. Past researchers have studied this relationship before and found that the reason why financial institutions get involved in socially responsible activities is to gain public trust and justification usually after a public financial scandal. So, we explore this further expecting that if it is indeed a matter of fact that these institutions gain the justification from the public that they so desire when they choose to get involved in socially responsible activities, then it should be that the public trust and justification would translate into improved financial performance. Therefore, the research question that we seek to answer is “Does Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) have an Impact on Corporate Financial Performance (CFP) in the Listed Swedish Financial Institutions” We examined the relationship between CSR and CFP using 26 Swedish financial institutions that are listed on Nasdaq Nordic stock exchange market (Stockholm) for the period between 2015 and 2019. The Fixed Effects Model regression analysis for panel data was used to test this relationship and we found that when Swedish financial institutions get involved in CSR, their financial performance is neither worsened or improved because of the insignificant ESG coefficients that we found.  Swedish financial institutions' engagement in socially responsible activities does not guarantee an impact on their financial performance.

Στην μελέτη αυτή εξετάζονται μία σειρά από συναφή ζητήματα τα οποία συνδέονται άρρηκτα μεταξύ τους: Α) Πως μετριούνται οι κοινωνικές επιδόσεις των εταιρειών; Β) Ποιες συνέπειες μπορεί να έχει μία καλή κοινωνικώς απόδοση; Γ) Ποιες σχέσεις τεκμηριώνονται εμπειρικώς ανάμεσα στην απόδοση σε κοινωνικούς όρους και στην απόδοση σε οικονομικούς όρους. Δ) Είναι εφικτό ένα κοινωνικό συμβόλαιο μεταξύ επιχειρήσεων και κοινωνίας; Ποια μορφή μπορεί αυτό να πάρει; Ε) Τι ρόλους καλείται να παίξει και πως η Κοινωνική Λογιστική των Εταιρειών; Ποια επιμέρους είδη Κοινωνικής Λογιστικής έχουν αναπτυχθεί και ποιες σκοπιμότητες-χρησιμότητες υπηρετούν; ΣΤ) Τι εννοείτε ως ηθική συμπεριφορά στον Τραπεζικό τομέα; Ζ) Case-Study: «Η Alpha Bank» / In this study i examine, throw desk research, a series of related issuew which are closely connected: A) How the Corporate Social Performance is measured? B) What consequences can have a socially good performance? C) Which relationships are empirically documented between corporate social performance and corporate financial performance? D) Is it feasible a social Contract between corporation and society? E) Which roles has been called the Micro-Social Accounting to play? What kinds of Micro-Social Accounting have been developed and which scope does each serve? F) What do we mean as ethical behaviour in banking sector? G) Case-Study: “Alpha Credit Bank”

Sustainable business has become highly sought after today by stakeholders, which explains the importance of CSR for companies. Companies are required to work sustainably in order to legitimize themselves both in the market and society. This can be done by fulfilling and satisfying the economic, environmental and sustainable, as well as the social frameworks that exist in business society. Despite CSR's central role in companies, researchers have differentiated meanings on whether CSR initiatives really improve corporate profitability in terms of financial performance, and whether it has a positive relationship with corporate value. Regarding this, the report examines CSR's relationship to CFP and company value, through the profitability measures ROA and ROE, as well as the valuation measures market value and P/E ratio. A quantitative method has been applied to examine the companies published on Dagens Industri's sustainability index for the year 2021. Dagens Industri's list includes the largest listed companies in the GICS categories on the Swedish stock market exchange. The study uses regression analysis as a choice of statistical analysis method to examine the variables relationships. From the regressions, a small part of the result showed a weak negative relationship between CSR and ROA. The regressions otherwise mainly showed a non-significant relationship between CSR and a company's profitability and value. The variables do not have a significant relationship with each other, and a neutral relationship between them can thus be demonstrated. The existing research gap is therefore still ambiguous, hence the room for further future studies in the field.

Syfte: Ett växande intresse för CSR och dess betydelse lyfter fram rollen av bolagsstyrning. Bland annat ifrågasattes styrelsens roll i att utveckla strategier och uppfylla krav från diverse intressentgrupper. Frågan om finansiell prestation, eller tillgängligheten av finansiella resurser, kan påverka förhållandet mellan CSR och styrelseegenskaper har sällan undersökts tidigare. Syftet med denna studie är därmed uppdelat i två frågeställningar; den första delen undersöker hur styrelseegenskaperna påverkar CSR. Vidare behandlar den andra delen potentiella modererande effekter av finansiell prestation på förhållandet. Metod: Studien utgår från en positivistisk forskningsfilosofi och en tvärsnittsforskning som bygger på en kvantitativ strategi. Data inhämtades via Refinitiv Eikon om 433 börsnoterade nordiska bolag för året 2021. Behandling och analys av data genomfördes via SPSS; ett statistiskt mjukvaruprogram. Resultat & slutsats: Resultaten tyder på positiva och statistiskt signifikanta effekter av styrelsens storlek, andelen kvinnor i styrelsen respektive andelen oberoende styrelseledamöter på CSR. Likaså fanns ett positivt samband mellan CSR och finansiell prestation samt att påverkan av styrelsestorleken på CSR positivt stärks av finansiell prestation. Däremot indikeras att påverkan av andelen kvinnor i styrelsen respektive andelen oberoende styrelseledamöter på CSR försvagas av finansiell prestation.  Examensarbetets bidrag: Studiens resultat har praktiska och teoretiska bidrag. Studiens teoretiska bidrag avser resultatens tillägg i den nuvarande forskningen om förhållandet mellan CSR och styrelsen. Studiens empiriska resultat kan därmed användas för att bättre förstå hur styrelsesammansättningen kan uppmuntra ansvarsfullt beteende. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Genom studiens resultat har vi kunnat föreslå tre ytterligare frågor för fortsatt undersökning. Den första frågan föreslår att VD:ns personlighet, engagemang och värderingar kan vara en närmare indikator på hur VD-dualitet kan påverka CSR. För det andra, föreslås vidare behandling av företagsbeteende mot CSR under olika ekonomiska förhållanden. Slutligen, har tidigare studier föreslagit vidare undersökning av interaktionseffekterna av styrelsens beståndsdelar för närmare indikation av en effektiv styrelsesammansättning. Syftet är att undersöka den gemensamma effekten av styrelsesammansättningen på CSR, till skillnad från att se hur enskilda egenskaper påverkar CSR. / Aim: The growing interest in corporate social responsibility and discussions of its importance inquired the role of corporate governance by numerous researchers. Specifically, the board has been highlighted as a pilar to developing strategies and maintaining the goals of diverse stakeholders. The role of financial performance, or the availability of slack financial resources, is a question rarely posed in its effects on the relation between the previously mentioned variables. The objective of this study is thereby divided into two inquiries; the first part investigates the effects of board characteristics on CSR, whereas the second part explores potential moderation effects of financial performance on the relationship.  Method: This study employs a positivistic research philosophy and cross-sectional research design based on a quantitative strategy. Data was collected through Refinitiv Eikon on 433 Nordic public firms for the year 2021. Processing and analysis of data was conducted through a statistical software program, SPSS.   Results & conclusions: Our findings suggest positive and statistically significant effects of board size, proportion of female board members and proportion of independent board members on CSR, respectively. Likewise, we find that financial performance has a positive effect on CSR and positively accentuates the effects of board size on CSR. Meaning that, higher financial performances positively influence firms’ level of CSP and accentuate the effects of board size on CSR. However, the effects of the proportion of female board members and proportion of independent board members are respectively weakened by firms’ financial performance. Contribution of the thesis: The findings of this study have practical and theoretical contributions. Theoretical contributions refer to our additions to the current research bank by providing more evidence on the effects of board characteristics on CSR. Practical contributions regard the empirical results given the limitations of the study, which can aid in understanding how specific board structures can encourage socially responsible behavior.  Suggestions for future research: Findings of the study inquired the role of three additional topics in relation to CSR. First, our insignificant results for CEO-duality is an additional indication to instead investigate the role of CEOs’ personalities and their engagement toward CSR-related questions, especially in institutional settings with coercive standards for socially responsible behaviors. Second, differences between fostering and declining economical/market conditions may result in re-prioritizations of goals and reformulations of CSR-strategies. Thereby inquiring if economic conditions may be a moderating factor in the relationship between CSR and financial performance. Third, researchers have suggested further investigation on the interaction effects between board characteristics due to their influence on one-and-another.