Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the default risk level of firms operating in the Eurozone and how CSR can provide insurance-like protection during financial/economic downturns.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on prior empirical studies and by integrating the insights of different theories, this study proposes a framework linking CSR, firm default risk and corporate financial performance to explain firms' social behavior that can trigger default risk determinants (e.g. cost of capital, leverage, sales level) directly or indirectly. The authors use a panel regression approach.

Findings

The results support the mitigating effect of CSR on firm default risk. This effect is higher during a financial crisis, suggesting that CSR could provide insurance-like protection during economic downturns. These results hold even after using an alternative risk measure. Granger causality test results strongly suggest that reverse causality is not a concern. An instrumental variable approach is proposed to deal with potential endogeneity issues.

Originality/value

While other studies examine the CSR–firm default risk relationship in US samples, this study focuses on the Eurozone. The novelty of this work is based on its sample and how financial crises are addressed within this relationship. Insurance-like protection concerns both negative announcements and periods (e.g. financial crises, recessions). The study's results are useful for investors and risk managers who intend to manage default risk in their portfolios or firms.

中文翻译：

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欧元区的企业社会责任和企业违约风险：基于市场的方法

目的

本研究的目的是检验企业社会责任 (CSR) 与在欧元区运营的公司的违约风险水平之间的关系，以及企业社会责任如何在金融/经济衰退期间提供类似保险的保护。

设计/方法/方法

本研究在以往实证研究的基础上，通过整合不同理论的见解，提出了一个将企业社会责任、企业违约风险和企业财务绩效联系起来的框架，以解释可能触发违约风险决定因素（如资本成本、杠杆、销售）的企业社会行为。水平）直接或间接。作者使用面板回归方法。

发现

结果支持企业社会责任对企业违约风险的缓解作用。这种影响在金融危机期间更大，表明企业社会责任可以在经济衰退期间提供类似保险的保护。即使在使用替代风险度量后，这些结果仍然成立。格兰杰因果关系检验结果强烈表明反向因果关系不是问题。提出了一种工具变量方法来处理潜在的内生性问题。

原创性/价值

虽然其他研究检查了美国样本中企业社会责任与公司违约风险的关系，但本研究侧重于欧元区。这项工作的新颖之处在于其样本以及如何在这种关系中解决金融危机。类似保险的保护涉及负面公告和时期（例如金融危机、衰退）。该研究的结果对打算管理其投资组合或公司的违约风险的投资者和风险经理很有用。