Religiosity and Corporate Social Responsibility: Do they Mix Well Together?

Although research in social norms and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is limited, previous studies show mixed results on the influence of social norms, specifically religiosity of the community, on firms’ CSR activities. Using the CSR scores from KLD database, we merge county- level religious data and other control variables to run multiple regression models. Contrary to existing theories suggesting more religious social norms would entice companies to do better, our results show that community religiosity has a negative impact on firms’ CSR scores. In our discussion, we provide insights that explain this seeming contradiction and provide directions for future studies.