Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether financial resource allocation decisions for corporate social responsibility (CSR) depends on slack resources and free cash flow.

Design/methodology/approach

The study's sample consists of 202 company-year observations from 51 financial institutions over the period 2015–2019. The authors collected CSR data from CSR review reports published by the Central Bank (Bangladesh Bank). The financial and governance data are collected from corporate annual reports and year-end review reports published by the Dhaka Stock Exchange. This study uses both the random-effect and generalized estimating equation models to test the hypotheses.

Findings

The authors establish two key findings consistent with the predictions of slack resource theory and free cash flow theory. First, the authors find a significant and positive relationship between slack resources and CSR expenditure. This result also supports the traditional thinking about corporate giving – that doing well enables doing good. Second, the author show that increases in free cash flow are associated with increases in CSR expenditure. This indicates the presence of agency problems between managers and shareholders regarding CSR expenditure.

Originality/value

This study is the first to show the positive impacts of slack resources and free cash flow on CSR expenditure in an emerging economy characterized by both capital constraints and high salience of CSR expenditure. The study has important implications for regulators, advocacy groups, shareholders and analysts in emerging economies that share similar contextual characteristics.

中文翻译：

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闲置资源、自由现金流和企业社会责任支出：来自新兴经济体的证据

目的

本研究的目的是调查企业社会责任 (CSR) 的财务资源分配决策是否取决于松弛资源和自由现金流。

设计/方法/方法

该研究的样本包括 2015 年至 2019 年期间来自 51 家金融机构的 202 家公司年度观察结果。作者从中央银行（孟加拉国银行）发布的 CSR 审查报告中收集了 CSR 数据。财务和治理数据来自达卡证券交易所发布的公司年度报告和年终审查报告。本研究同时使用随机效应和广义估计方程模型来检验假设。

发现

作者建立了与松弛资源理论和自由现金流理论的预测一致的两个关键发现。首先，作者发现闲置资源与企业社会责任支出之间存在显着的正相关关系。这一结果也支持了关于企业捐赠的传统思想——做得好才能做好事。其次，作者表明自由现金流的增加与企业社会责任支出的增加有关。这表明管理者和股东之间在企业社会责任支出方面存在代理问题。

原创性/价值

本研究首次展示了在资本约束和企业社会责任支出突出的新兴经济体中，闲置资源和自由现金流对企业社会责任支出的积极影响。该研究对具有相似背景特征的新兴经济体的监管机构、倡导团体、股东和分析师具有重要意义。