Using an international sample of 30,060 observations of firms from 32 countries, covering the period from 2004 to 2018, combined with a country-level index for societal trust, this study provides evidence that societal trust is negatively associated with corporate social responsibility (CSR), which in turn is a proxy for firm-level corporate trust-building investment. Further analyses show that firms in low-trust countries tend to invest more in CSR when they are owned by large foreign shareholders originating from low-trust countries. The negative impact of societal trust on CSR is pronounced for firms located in less stable countries. Overall, the results suggest that societal trust acts as a substitute to firm-level trust. From the perspective of risk management, the results confirm this study's argument that the marginal benefits of CSR-as-insurance are more crucial for firms located in low-trust countries.

本研究使用来自 32 个国家的 30,060 个公司观察的国际样本，涵盖 2004 年至 2018 年期间，结合国家层面的社会信任指数，提供了社会信任与企业社会责任 (CSR) 负相关的证据，这反过来又代表了公司层面的企业信任建设投资。进一步的分析表明，低信任度国家的公司在由来自低信任度国家的大外国股东所有时，往往会在企业社会责任方面投入更多。社会信任对企业社会责任的负面影响对于位于不太稳定国家的公司来说是显而易见的。总体而言，结果表明社会信任可以替代企业层面的信任。从风险管理的角度来看，结果证实了这项研究'