Corporate reputation and an insurance motivation for corporate social investment

This paper explores an under-researched motive for corporate social investment (CSI): that of insurance. Building on a paper by Godfrey (2005), we argue that social investment insures companies against stakeholder reactions to socially irresponsible acts. We offer predictions regarding the distribution of insurance-motivated social investment across firm characteristics, and highlight the possibility that this form of insurance drives firms towards greater social irresponsibility. Thus, we argue that the overall impact on social welfare of insurance-motivated social investment is ambiguous. An exploratory analysis shows the pattern of charitable giving among large UK companies to be broadly consistent with an insurance motivation for such expenditures, and we discuss a case study that is indicative of an insurance function for CSI.