Corporate Social Responsibility, Firm Value and Corporate Governance Code Revisions: The Asian Evidence*

Abstract

The present study examines the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and firm value, and the effects of corporate governance code revisions on the relationship. We examine this relationship for: (i) a high-income country, Japan; (ii) middle-income countries China, Malaysia and Thailand; and (iii) low-income countries India and Indonesia. We use the Heckman two-stage sample selection bias approach for the empirical analysis. We find that Japanese stakeholder CSR and environmental CSR have a smaller positive effect on firm value compared to the middle-income countries, but we do not find any statistically significant association for the low-income countries. In addition, we find that only Japanese corporate governance code revisions significantly contribute to the positive relationship between CSR and firm value, which concurs with the new recommendations documented in the revised codes of corporate governance. The present study reveals that foreign major shareholders matter to the value creation of CSR in Japan and the middle-income countries of China, Malaysia and Thailand.