Alexis Cellier

The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility Rating Announcements on European Stock Prices

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) ratings offer an opportunity to assess the financial market perception of Social Responsibility disentangling the different impacts of this multi-dimensional concept. We study the influence of Vigeo rating announcements (2004-2009) on short term European stock returns. The results show a positive effect over two days around the event. The detailed analysis reveals that the reaction varies according to the field. Human rights have a positive influence, Environment and Human resources a negative one and Community involvement a mixed one. Moreover, the aggregation level is also important since a confounding effect leads to non-significance of Corporate governance. These results suggest that the stock market rewards CSR. However, the relationship is complex and needs to be analyzed with care. Indeed, investors discriminate the various dimensions, search for the right information at different levels and do not necessarily interpret good and bad CSR practices in the same way.