Corporate Social Responsibility : en koppling mellan marknadsföring och finansiering

Sammanfattning: Background: The debate about environment, labor conditions and aid to developing countries has the last years been a much discussed subject The pressure on the companies to live up to their responsibility is beginning to be noticed in the market. Purpose: To find out if a retail company investing in Corporate Social Responsibility thereby direct can effect it’s stock value. Using interviews to investigate if and how stock analysts and corporate finance professionals valuate a company’s CSR initiatives. Theoretical perspective: The description of CSR is leading to the main theory, The Brand Value Change, and the Market Hypothesis. Additionally a theory of the Consumer Buying Process and CAPM-model about financial risks is presented. Method: An event study of 30 companies to investigate if there is any change in their stock values and interviews with three professionals from the financial sector to find out about their attitude to CSR. A examine of the companies’ β-value was made to get an idea of the risk level in their shares. Results: The result of the event study indicates that there is now clear change in the share value when positive news about the company’s CSR- work are published. Empirical: In the financial sector CSR was discussed a few years ago but today the interest is very limited. CSR- work can however have an indirect effect on stock prices due to consumer reactions. Conclusions: The investors do not have any direct interest in the company’s commitment to CSR, but CSR may have an indirect effect on stock prices if the consumers make an active choice as a result of their opinion of the company’s brand. A company’s brands and products are strengthened in the market place by CSR- engagement, mainly if the CSR- engagement is related to the core business.