We document that corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities increase the cost of equity in East Asia. Further, the effect is driven by economies with weak investor protection. Our findings are robust to alternative variable measurements, accounting for endogeneity of CSR, and various methodological specifications. The positive relation between CSR and the cost of equity is attributable to the high agency conflicts in East Asian economies. Our findings highlight that the effect of CSR is contingent on the research context, and emphasize the importance of enhancing investor protection and mitigating agency conflicts for the promotion of CSR.

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企业社会责任、投资者保护和股权成本：来自东亚的证据

我们记录了企业社会责任 (CSR) 活动增加了东亚的股权成本。此外，这种影响是由投资者保护薄弱的经济体推动的。我们的研究结果对于替代变量测量是稳健的，考虑了 CSR 的内生性，以及各种方法论规范。企业社会责任与股权成本之间的正相关归因于东亚经济体的高代理冲突。我们的研究结果强调企业社会责任的影响取决于研究背景，并强调加强投资者保护和减少代理冲突对促进企业社会责任的重要性。