Corporate Social Responsibility and Value of Industrial Goods Manufacturing Firms in Nigeria

Purpose: The aim of this study is to determine how corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices can influence the corporate performances of listed firms in the industrial goods producing sector of Nigeria and other developing countries. Theoretical Framework: The enhancement of corporate value by CSR practices has become an interesting area of study for corporate managers and policy makers globally. The Stakeholder and Business Ethics theories have been used for this study. However, we anchor this research on the stakeholder theory which Edward Freeman propounded in 1984 and use it to evaluate the influence of CSR on corporate value. Design/methodology/approach: The study uses the causal comparative research design and we purposively select a sample of four industrial goods firms from Nigeria’s listed manufacturing enterprises as at 31st December, 2021 based on their social responsibility relationships with the society, employees and creditors. We collect 19 years secondary data from the website of the Nigerian Exchange Group and yearly financial reports of the industrial goods producing enterprises. These data have been analysed using the ordinary least squares panel data regression, fixed and random effects models, stationarity test, cross-section dependence test the Hausman test. Findings: The results show that corporate giving, employee welfare package and creditor days have significant positive effects on return on assets (a proxy of corporate performance) suggesting that the threat to profit-maximization is not caused by CSR but by illegitimate use of CSR by rent-seeking corporate managers. Research, Practical & Social implications: The study helps in filling the gap in literature and serves as basis for the economic and social development of Nigeria, developed and other developing countries through a more legitimate CSR investments in corporate giving, employee welfare package and creditor settlement days. Originality/value: The value of the study is that evidence of CSR success in the industrial goods manufacturing sector has for the first time been established using a time scope of 19 years and a firm-year-observations of 228. This study supports the claim that CSR is not a threat to profit maximization since it has a strong relationship with corporate value