Are Spanish Listed Firms Betting on CSR during the Crisis? Evidence from the Agency Problem

Abstract

Companies have to continue with their businesses in the current uncertain environment triggered by the economic crisis. Since the decrease in the performance of companies is a reality, academicians, managers and entrepreneur are worried about what may be happening with Corporate Social Responsibility. Because of the strong impact of the crisis on Spain, we are going to study its effect on the CSR behaviour of Spanish companies. Therefore, we analyse whether the performance of the company, as well as some shareholding characteristics, influence CSR before and during the crisis. The results show that large Spanish companies continue to carry out CSR actions despite the effects of the crisis on their financial health. It seems that shareholders are more influential than managers in these strategic and entrepreneurial decisions. Additionally, the presence of a reference shareholder means that companies are more committed to CSR, although a higher percentage of insider shareholders cause the contrary effect.