Moral capital of CSR and firm performance: does a shift from voluntary to mandatory policy matter in an Indian context?

Purpose There is a current agitation by community leaders, global leaders and society on the morality aspect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities of firms. The change in policy raises the question of whether moral capital is affected. Therefore, this study aims to examine whether the shift from voluntary to mandatory reporting increases the moral capital of CSR and also whether moral capital affects the firm performance of listed firms in India. Design/methodology/approach This study examines 800 firm-year observations on the Bombay Stock Exchange (split into 320 firm-year observations for the voluntary period and 480 firm-year observations for the mandatory period). This study uses panel regression with random effect assumptions for data interpretation. Findings The first findings show that a shift from voluntary to mandatory policy on CSR increases the moral capital value of listed firms in India. The second and third findings show that voluntary reporting of moral capital has no significant association with market performance (stock price returns [SPR]) or firm value (Tobin’s q). The fourth findings show a negative and statistically significant association between mandatory reporting of moral capital and SPR but an insignificant association with Tobin’s q. This study conducted a robustness test, and results show that the previous year 1 and 2 moral capital for voluntary and mandatory periods has no association with SPR and Tobin’s q. Originality/value Although prior research has examined the effect of change in policy from voluntary to mandatory reporting on firm performance, little is known about the impact of moral capital on firm performance for the emerging economies, including India.