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Agency Problems of Corporate Philanthropy
Open accessAbstract
Evaluating agency theory and optimal contracting theory views of corporate philanthropy, we find that as corporate giving increases, shareholders reduce their valuation of firm cash holdings.Dividend increases following the 2003 Tax Reform Act are associated with reduced corporate giving.Using a natural experiment, we find that corporate giving is positively (negatively) associated with CEO charity preferences (CEO shareholdings and corporate governance quality).Evidence from CEO-affiliated charity donations, market reactions to insider-affiliated donations, its relation to CEO compensation, and firm contributions to director-affiliated charities indicates that corporate donations advance CEO interests and suggests misuses of corporate resources that reduce firm value.
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“In addition, managers may use CSR to pursue personal goals or for their private benefit, in which case CSR gives rise to an agency problem (e.g., Masulis and Reza 2015).”
From Mandatory CSR and sustainability reporting: economic analysis and literature review (2021) · cites this paper as Masulis and Reza 2015
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Metadata
- Authors
- Masulis, R. W., & Reza, S. W.
- Affiliations
- UNSW Sydney (AU)
- Queensland University of Technology (AU)
- Venue
- Review of Financial Studies
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2014-11-18
- Volume
- 28
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 592-636
- ISSN
- 0893-9454 (ISSN-L)
- 1465-7368
- OpenAlex
- W2247506531
- Cited by
- 1,020
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2026: 101 · 2025: 156 · 2024: 161 · 2023: 140 · 2022: 138 · 2021: 85 · 2020: 95 · 2019: 50 · 2018: 38 · 2017: 22 · 2016: 16 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 3
- FWCI
- 53.29
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Review of Financial Studies (publishedVersion)
- QUT ePrints (Queensland University of Technology) (submittedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- QUT Business School
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Finance › Corporate Finance and Governance
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering
- Keywords
- corporate philanthropy, agency theory, optimal contracting, shareholder valuation, cash holdings, dividends, CEO shareholding, corporate governance quality, CEO compensation, firm value
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