The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on the Investment Attractiveness of the Russian Companies

Authors

  • Natalia Removna Kelchevskaya Ural Federal University
  • Ilia Mikhaylovich Chernenko Ural Federal University
  • Ekaterina Vladimirovna Popova Surgut State University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17059/2017-1-15

Keywords:

corporate social responsibility, information disclosure, cost of equity capital, investment attractiveness, metallurgy, oil and gas industry, industry

Abstract

Investigation of the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and environmental responsibility on the economic performance over the past decades has shown that the implementation of CSR is one of the key drivers of value creation. Disclosure of social policy is one of the key CSR areas, it reduces information asymmetry and also contributes to the company’s reputation, decreasing uncertainty and risk in the assessment of the internal environment. This study shows that the disclosure of CSR information is able to increase the investment attractiveness of companies, and reduce the cost of equity. In the last decade, Russian industry has accumulated considerable positive experience in the implementing and positioning of corporate social responsibility (CSR) technologies, which has yet to be assessed. In this paper, we used the sample of social reports of 18 Russian companies in the period from 2004 to 2014. The authors provided content-analysis of information disclosure dimensions including staff training, social policy, charity and environmental responsibility. In contrast to other studies, the results show a comparatively moderate impact of disclosure on the cost of equity capital. Also, we found that different dimensions of the disclosure have an ambiguous impact on the investment attractiveness of companies. Our results allow formulating practical recommendations for the management of metallurgical, oil and gas Russian companies to increase their investment attractiveness, in particular, a prudent choice of CSR information for disclosure. The study is unique for the Russian practice of evaluating the effectiveness of CSR, as it is based on a sample of the largest industrial enterprises.

Author Biographies

Natalia Removna Kelchevskaya, Ural Federal University

Doctor of Economics, Professor, Head of the Department of Economics and Management at Metallurgical and Machine-Building Enterprises, Ural Federal University (19, Mira St., Ekaterinburg, 620002, Russian Federation; e-mail: t.k.goldobina@urfu.ru).

Ilia Mikhaylovich Chernenko, Ural Federal University

PhD in Economics, Associate Professor, Department of Economics and Management at Metallurgical and Machine-Building Enterprises, Ural Federal University (19, Mira St., Ekaterinburg, 620002, Russian Federation; e-mail: i.m.chernenko@urfu.ru).

Ekaterina Vladimirovna Popova, Surgut State University

PhD in Economics, Lecturer, Department of Human Resource Management, Surgut State University (1, Lenina Ave., Surgut, 628412, Russian Federation; e-mail: k121time@yandex.ru).

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Published

01.02.2017

How to Cite

Kelchevskaya, N. R., Chernenko, I. M., & Popova, E. V. (2017). The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on the Investment Attractiveness of the Russian Companies. Economy of Regions, 13(1), 157–169. https://doi.org/10.17059/2017-1-15

Issue

Section

Research articles