The Wharton School, U. of Pennsylvania, United States
This study examines whether the varying financial returns to philanthropy can be explained by the uncertainty associated with the issues to which a firm donates. We start with the premise that stakeholders react favorably to donations they view as effective and appropriate for specific social needs, which can lead to financial advantages for the donor firm. However, the reliance on various cues for such assessments may differ based on the uncertainty surrounding social issues. For stable issues, where the social need and redress strategies are relatively clear and direct, we expect that proximate cues such as the donation amount and a firm’s donation experience are likely indicators of philanthropic effectiveness, thereby predicting its financial returns. Conversely, when donations target uncertain issues where the social need is unclear or evolving, these cues become less informative, prompting stakeholders to consider broader cues, such as firm reputation. Our analysis introduces a method for measuring the country- and time-specific uncertainty of issues and applies it to evaluate donations from the world’s largest 2,000 firms from 2007 to 2018. The significance of our study is underscored by the increasing engagement of firms in social issues fraught with high uncertainty.
