Seminar by Giovanna Michelon

SALA SEMINARI – 1° PIANO, PALAZZO LEVI CASES, VIA DEL SANTO 33 - ORE 12.30

04.04.2019

Seminar by Giovanna Michelon, University of Exeter

Title: "CSR Performance proxies in large-sample studies: 'Umbrella Advocates', Construct Clarity, and the 'Validity Police'" joint with L. Bouten, C.H. Cho, R.W. Roberts

Abstract: Corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance is a multidimensional, “umbrella” construct, that has generated concerns about construct validity and reliability of empirical proxies of CSR performance (CSRP), attracting the “validity police”. Although the breadth and depth of CSRP measurement continues to increase, its links to an underlying, agreed-upon theory remains in doubt. Meanwhile, a market for quantitative measurement of CSRP has grown dramatically. The purpose of our study is to review the CSRP constructs and proxies employed in studies published in a select set of journals and working paper series, and to determine how evidence may be influenced by the selection of CSRP proxies. We situate our analysis within the academic debate on the calibration of construct and proxy convergence and precision, which provides a basis for evaluating the empirical durability of CSRP constructs across proxy specifications. Using a combination of statistical techniques and interviews with professionals involved in the CSR ratings industry, our analyses show the potential for empirical results to be significantly sensitive to proxy selection and provide qualitative evidence that helps explain the need for more precise and thorough construct and proxy development. This research is critically important because accounting literature builds on significant results generated by different proxies for CSRP.