Corporate Social Performance and Financial Performance in Brazilian Companies: Analysis of the Influence of Disclosure

Abstract

The relationship between Corporate Social Performance (CSP) and Corporate Financial Performance (CFP) has been widely tested in the international context; however, there are nuances that have not been fully explained, such as the possible influence of socio-environmental disclosure and studies in specific contexts, such as the Brazilian one. In order to contribute evidence on the direction of the relationship and the presence of moderator variables, this paper aims to analyze the CSP-CFP relationship, investigating if social disclosure moderates this relationship. The research sample is composed of companies that were part of the Corporate Sustainability Index (ISE) in the period from 2010 to 2013 and the hypothetical relationships which were tested by panel data regression models. The results show that there is a positive and significant relationship between CSP and CFP in both directions of causality; however, it was found that the disclosure of sustainability reports does not intensify or alter the relationship between these performance variables.

Keywords

• social performance
• financial performance
• corporate sustainability index
• social disclosure
• gri