Graduation Year
2018
Date of Submission
12-2017
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Economics-Accounting
Reader 1
Matthew Magilke
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2017 Anna M. Gurr
Abstract
As environmental responsibility (ER) gains momentum in the corporate and stakeholder world, it is imperative to understand the relationship between ER and financial performance. While there is prior research looking at this relationship, this study provides further insight into the specific effects of negative and positive ER. In addition, it looks over the years 2008-2011 having implications for companies about the effects of their ER even through financial hardships. This study uses a widely respected corporate social responsibility database, in which ER scores were separated from. In this study, 287 firms in the S&P 500 are examined through times-series regression analyses. The results reveal that positive ER had a negative relationship with financial performance indicators Tobin’s q and ROA. However, negative ER had such strong positive relationship with financial performance in both measures, that when looking at the effect of net ER, the relationship was tipped back to positive. This indicates that negative ER worsens a company’s financial position more than spending on positive ER initiatives.
Recommended Citation
Gurr, Anna, "The Effects of Positive and Negative Environmental Responsibility on Financial Performance" (2018). CMC Senior Theses. 1800.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/1800
Included in
Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons, Business Law, Public Responsibility, and Ethics Commons, Finance and Financial Management Commons