Does the composition of boards of directors impact on CSR scores?

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the relationship between board composition and firm corporate social responsibility (CSR) scores of the top 30 listed companies in Australia, France, UK and USA.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a sample of 120 publicly listed companies covering a 10-year period from 2006 to 2015, the authors examine this relationship in a dynamic modelling framework, which controls for potential sources of endogeneity.

Findings

The authors find that board composition appears to have no effect on large firms’ CSR scores. This finding remains robust when they used out-of-sample analysis and is consistent with the perspectives of agency theory stakeholder theory and institutional theory.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the literature in several ways. First, it fills an important gap in literature on CSR and corporate governance, as less is known about how board composition affects social activities. Second, this study controls endogeneity and sample selection bias which are main econometric problems in CG and CSR studies.

Citation

Wellalage, N., Locke, S. and Acharya, S. (2018), "Does the composition of boards of directors impact on CSR scores?", Social Responsibility Journal, Vol. 14 No. 3, pp. 651-669. https://doi.org/10.1108/SRJ-03-2017-0039