Corporate Socio-political Activism and Retail Investors: Evidence from the Black Lives Matter Campaign
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Final published version, 2.48 MB, PDF document
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DOI
This study investigates retail investor responses to corporate engagement in corporate socio-political activism (CSA). Using manually collected evidence of companies’ support for the Black Lives Matter (BLM) campaign, we find that speaking up in support of BLM attracts retail investor attention. However, it influences their investment decisions only if speaking up is backed up by a monetary donation to BLM-related causes on the same day. This effect is observed for companies that have black directors on their board and companies headquartered in Democrat-leaning states. There is no corresponding increase in firm value. Our results suggest that retail investor preferences for companies that engage in CSA are likely guided by moral sentiment.
Keywords
- corporate socio-political activism, Black lives matter, Retail Investors, ESG, corporate social responsibility, Robinhood investors
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 102417 |
| Journal | Journal of Corporate Finance |
| Volume | 80 |
| Early online date | 13 Apr 2023 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jun 2023 |
Research outputs (1)
- Published
Corporate Support for Black Lives Matter: Determinants and Effects on Retail Investors
Research output: Working paper
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