Corporate Social Irresponsibility, Media Coverage, and Stock Returns Hee-Eun Kim School of Business Administration Myongji University 34 Geobukgol-ro, Seodeamun-gu, Seoul, Korea Tel: +82-10-4174-0816 Email:
[email protected] Tae-Wook Ahn DeepSearch, Inc. 21, Baekbeom-ro 31-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul, Korea Tel: +82-10-4554-0498 Email:
[email protected] Hoje Jo Santa Clara University 500 El Camino Real Santa Clara, CA 95053, USA Tel: +01-408-221-9384 Email:
[email protected] Junesuh Yi Dongguk Business School Dongguk University 30, Pildong-ro 1-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul, Korea Tel: +82-10-3478-3322 Email:
[email protected] September 29, 2020 This paper develops from a chapter of Hee-Eun Kim’s Ph.D. dissertation at Peking University. 1 Corporate Social Irresponsibility, Media Coverage, and Stock Returns Abstract Drawing upon behavioral sentiment theory and insurance theory, this paper examines the impact of increased investor awareness of corporate social irresponsibility (CSiR) on stock returns by showing that media coverage provides an important channel through which social media influences investor sentiment and awareness regarding CSiR. Using a unique research setting in Korea based on textual analysis, we find that investors exhibit short-term negative reactions to CSiR events. In addition, the increased social awareness and/or investor sentiment of CSiR issues through media coverage leads investors to penalize firms more severely. We also find that the negative reaction to CSiR events is larger for firms with greater negative media tone and greater surprise. The combined evidence is supportive of the behavioral sentiment theory. Furthermore, the negative effects of CSiR on stock returns are smaller for firms with a positive CSR reputation, consistent with insurance theory.