Corporate social responsibility and firm value: Guiding through economic policy uncertainty

This letter examines the effect of economic policy uncertainty on the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate financial performance (CFP). Using a large sample of public firms from 36 countries over the 2002-2016 period, our findings show that the social capital built over years through CSR investments offsets the negative role of economic policy uncertainty on firm financial performance. Moreover, we document that, during times of high business uncertainty, the positive valuation effect of CSR is greater in developed markets.