The moderating effect of firm visibility on the impact of corporate social responsibility on firm financial performance in Asia-Pacific publicly listed companies: A comparison between sensitive vs. non-sensitive industries

• Main Authors: Duyan, Kathrina S., Tan, Audrey Lei T., Verzosa, Chennylle P., Viernes, Christine Mel C.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2023
• Subjects: Social responsibility of business—Pacific Area; Corporations—Pacific Area—Finance; Accounting; Business Law, Public Responsibility, and Ethics; Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etdb_acc/67; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/etdb_acc/article/1104/viewcontent/The_moderating_effect_of_firm_visibility_on_the_impact_of_corpora.pdf
• Institution: De La Salle University

More than ever before, society pressures businesses to be more environmentally and socially conscious through corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. A multitude of literature has examined the impact of CSR on firm financial performance (FFP); however, there are still varied findings on the relationship between the two. Firm visibility is also a concept closely associated with the CSR-FFP relationship. Thus, this paper aims to examine the moderating effect of firm visibility on the impact of CSR on FFP of publicly listed companies in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. These companies are further classified into sensitive and non-sensitive depending on their industry’s socio-environmental impact. Data from the Refinitiv Eikon database were retrieved and analyzed. Using a multiple regression analysis, this study found varying results depending on the industry classification and firm performance measure. In sensitive industries, CSR has a significant impact on FFP. When moderated by firm visibility, the moderating effect is insignificant when ROA is used, while there is a moderating effect when Tobin’s Q is used. On the other hand, under non-sensitive industries, CSR has a significant impact on FFP only when ROA is used. When moderated by FV, the findings showed that there is a significant moderating effect only on Tobin’s Q. These findings have led to the formulation of relevant recommendations for publicly listed APAC companies, investors, corporate management, regulatory bodies, academic institutions, and future researchers.