CSR活動は金融市場においてどう評価されているか：研究の現状

抄録

Objective. The objective of this paper is to survey the empirical studies examining how Corporate Social Responsibility（CSR）has been evaluated in the financial market, and compare the estimated results of Japanese market with those of the US and the UK. Different methodologies, research periods and topics were examined in previous studies, therefore, we surveyed and summarised those results to grasp trends of effects of CSR activities on firms. We also reveal what tasks should be analysed for further research. Furthermore, we clarify and discuss the possible factors for the differences between Japan, the US, and the UK by comparing the results of the research.

Results and Discussion. We concluded that CSR activities do not affect stock prices in the mid- and long-term even though the estimated results are shown as being positive in the Japanese markets. From the point of view of the short-run impact, a positive reaction toward the CSR-related news, including environmental news, has been observed more clearly in recent years. The trends for US and European markets have been similar to the trends in the Japanese case. We also discussed other possible benefits of implementing CSR activities other than impacts on financial assets. These benefits are “attracting excellent human resources” and “increased productivity of employees”. Although these benefits could be one of greatest factors affecting the firms, few researchers have examined them. Therefore, we determined them to be topics that should be further analysed.

Conclusions. We summarised empirical studies of if and how CSR is evaluated in the financial markets of Japan and Western countries. It is concluded that investors in these markets have not greatly appreciated the socially responsible behaviours of firms in the mid- and long-term. On the other hand, CSR-related announcements, including environmental news, had positive impacts on stock prices in Japanese markets. During recent years, investors in Western markets have reacted to CSR-related announcements but the statistical significance of the reaction depends on the literature. Additionally, an announcement that a firm was removed from the SRI Index had a greater impact on stock prices than an announcement that a firm was included in the index. The possible reason could be that CSR-related activities are not considered to be important by Western investors.