The Effect of Ownership Structure on Corporate Social Responsibility

CSR Research Digest - January 2012 The article examines the effects of ownership on the firms’ corporate social responsibility (CSR). A sample of 118 large Korean firms is used for the study. Key Findings Authors hypothesize that different types of shareholders will have distinct motivations toward the firm’s CSR engagement. Authors break down ownership into different groups of shareholders: institutional, managerial, and foreign ownerships. Results indicate a significant, positive relationship between CSR ratings and ownership by institutions and foreign investors. In contrast, shareholding by top managers is negatively associated with firm’s CSR rating while outside director ownership is not significant. Article concludes that different owners have differential impacts on the firm’s CSR engagement. Author(s) W. Y. Oh, Y. K. Chang and A. Martynov Source Journal of Business Ethics, 104 (2), 283-297

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