Do institutional investors drive corporate social responsibility? International evidence
研究了2004至2013年间41个国家企业的数据，发现机构持股与企业环境和社会责任正相关，且国内及非美国外国机构投资者起主要作用，长期投资者如养老基金影响显著，而美国机构投资者和对冲基金无显著关联。
We examine whether institutional investors affect a firm’s commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR) for a large sample of firms from 41 countries over the period 2004 through 2013. We focus on environmental and social aspects of CSR, while controlling for firms ’ governance levels. We find that institutional ownership is positively associated with firm-level environmental and social commitments. Further, the “color of money ” matters. Domestic institutional investors and non-U.S. foreign investors account for these positive associations, while U.S. institutional investors ’ holdings are not related to environmental and social scores. Similarly, higher scores are associated with long-term investors such as pension funds but not with hedge funds. Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment shows that institutional ownership causes improvements in environmental scores. Overall, our results suggest that institutional investors, in aggregate, use their ownership stakes to promote good CSR practices around the world.