Investors, Corporate Social Performance and Information Disclosure: An Empirical Study .

Abstract ABSTRACT: The objective of this study is to provide some empirical evidence relevant to the social performance disclosure question. To provide this evidence, the investigation concentrated on ascertaining the validity of a widely stated view of some investors that a moderate to strong association exists between the investment value of a company's common shares and its social performance. This was achieved by testing for associations between a number of economic and financial indicators of investment value (profitability, size, total and systematic risk, price/earning ratio) and corporate performance on one key social issue (pollution control) in a sample of companies drawn from a pollution prone industry. Some statistically significant associations were found to exist although there was a reduction in the level of these associations over time. While generalization of these results will require further research, the findings reported are consistent with stated investors' perceptions.