Title: What drives corporate social performance?
Description: We investigate the institutional drivers of Corporate Social Performance (CSP) by focusing on its three fundamental components: social, environmental and governance performance. Using a large cross-section of firms from 42 countries over 7 years, we are able to explain 41, 46 and 63% of the variation in social performance, environmental performance, and corporate governance respectively, with observable firm, industry and institutional factors. More specifically, we hypothesize that country institutions have a profound influence on CSP. We find that political institutions, followed by legal and labor market institutions are the most important country determinants of social and environmental performance. In contrast, legal institutions, followed by political institutions are the most important country determinants of governance. Capital market institutions appear to be less important drivers of CSP. Our results provide insights on the demand and supply forces that determine CSP internationally.