Does a Government Mandate Crowd Out Voluntary Corporate Social Responsibility? Evidence from India
研究印度政府要求企业将利润的2%用于企业社会责任的强制规定，发现此前自愿履行社会责任的企业在强制规定后减少了相关支出，且股价和经营业绩下降。
ABSTRACT This study investigates the implementation of a Government of India mandate that requires firms to spend at least 2% of their profits on corporate social responsibility (CSR). The results show that qualifying firms that voluntarily engaged in CSR before the mandate reduce their CSR spending afterward. Despite increasing advertisement expenditure likely to offset the lost signaling value of voluntary CSR, stock prices and operating performance of former voluntary CSR spenders who qualify under the law decline. Our results suggest that regulatory intervention in CSR can both diminish its signaling value and lead to a reduction in voluntary CSR spending.