People and Profits? : The Search for a Link Between a Company's Social and Financial Performance

by Margolis, Joshua Daniel; Walsh, James P.

• ISBN13: 9780805840117
• ISBN10: 0805840117
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-04-01
• Publisher: Lawrence Erlbau

Summary

What is the relationship between the social performance of companies and their financial performance? More colloquially, can a firm effectively attend to both people and profits as it conducts its business? This question has been investigated in no fewer than 95 empirical studies published since 1972. The authors have assembled a compendium of this research to give researchers and practitioners alike a broad overview of these 95 studies and a systematic database detailing the content of each one. This book provides a comprehensive portrait of this research literature. It begins with a broad orientation to the literature, exploring why the link between social and financial performance has been subject to continual inquiry and often heated debate. The authors then present an integrated overview of the 95 studies. Through the charts and tables, the authors illuminate the nature of the studies conducted; the data samples selected for investigation; the ways in which financial and social performance have been measured; and the overall tally of results.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii
About the Authors	ix
Series Editor's Foreword	xi
Introduction	1	(1)
A Brief Orientation to the Question	2	(4)
Constructing the Business Case for Corporate Social Performance
Academic Debate
Purpose of this Compendium
An Integrated Portrait of the Empirical Literature	6	(9)
Method
Corporate Samples
Measuring Financial Performance
Measuring Social Performance
Summary of Results
Mechanisms and Control Variables
Conclusions
End Notes	15	(26)
Tables and Figures:
``Measures and Use of Financial Performance Indicators in the Corporate Social Performance Literature''	18	(1)
``Control Variables and the Number of Studies Using Each''	19	(1)
``A Review of the Reviews''	20	(5)
``Corporate Social Performance: Observation and Publication Years''	25	(1)
``Corporate Social Performance: Sampling on the Good, the Bad, and the Big in 56 of 95 Studies''	26	(1)
``Measuring Corporate Social Performance: Data Sources Employed in 95 Studies''	27	(1)
``Corporate Social Performance: Domains of Investigation in 95 Studies''	28	(1)
``Corporate Social Performance and Financial Performance: An Overview of the Relationships Revealed in 95 Studies''	29	(1)
``Results by Year of Publication: Corporate Social Performance as Independent Variable''	30	(1)
``Results by Year of Publication: Corporate Social Performance as Dependent Variable''	31	(1)
``Results by Common Sample Type: Corporate Social Performance as Independent Variable''	32	(1)
``Results by Common Sample Type: Corporate Social Performance as Dependent Variable''	33	(1)
``Results by Data Source: Corporate Social Performance as Independent Variable''	34	(1)
``Results by Data Source: Corporate Social Performance as Dependent Variable''	35	(1)
``Results by Domain of Investigation: Corporate Social Performance as Independent Variable''	36	(1)
``Results by Domain of Investigation: Corporate Social Performance as Dependent Variable''	37	(1)
``Results by Type of Analysis: Corporate Social Performance as Independent Variable''	38	(1)
``Results by Type of Analysis: Corporate Social Performance as Dependent Variable''	39	(1)
``Results by Time Lag''	40	(1)
Exhibit 1: 95 Studies of the Relationship between Corporate Social Performance and Financial Performance, 1972-2000	41	(100)
Bibliography	141	(13)
Appendix: A Guide to Abbreviations and Acronyms	154