AAA Spark Meeting of the Regions

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Did COVID-19 Alter the Corporate Social Responsibility Behavior of Firms?

Thu, June 1, 2:00 to 3:00pm, Virtual, TBA

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in considerable economic and financial effects worldwide and is considered one of the most difficult challenges facing corporations since the Great Depression. Corporations were faced with tough decisions regarding their social and ethical behavior during this time. As shareholders and other stakeholders of corporations expect that corporations will engage in socially responsible behavior, the concern exists whether COVID-19 has a negative impact on their social responsibility behavior. This study examines the impact of COVID-19 on corporations’ commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR), both in the form of performance and disclosures. We find that COVID-19 did not negatively impact CSR and in fact, positively impacted CSR. In particular, we find that CSR performance and CSR disclosure increased after the start of the pandemic for our sample of Fortune 500 companies.

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