Investor attention and corporate social responsibility of family businesses in Vietnam: The moderating role of CEO overpower

PLoS One. 2024 Jul 19;19(7):e0306989. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0306989. eCollection 2024.

Abstract

This study examines the influence of investor attention and Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) power on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) within Vietnamese family businesses. Unlike most of the past literature, this study further investigates the potential moderating effects of CEOs' power on the relationship between investor attention and CSR. Utilizing the dynamic system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM), this study analyzes a dataset comprising 116 Vietnamese family businesses from 2005 to 2020. The findings reveal an inverted U-shape between CEO power and CSR within family businesses; meanwhile, investor attention demonstrates a negative impact on CSR. Moreover, the results report that CEO power is a moderating factor in the relationship between investor attention and CSR. These results are consistent with various theoretical frameworks, including agency theory, overinvestment, career concern, career horizon, and conflict-resolution hypotheses. Finally, our study offers management implications to foster the sustainable development of CSR within family businesses, particularly within emerging markets.

MeSH terms

  • Administrative Personnel / psychology
  • Attention
  • Commerce*
  • Family
  • Humans
  • Investments*
  • Social Responsibility*
  • Vietnam

Grants and funding

This study was financially supported by Ton Duc Thang University in the form of salary for authors KDD and HTHN. This study was also financially supported by Van Lang University in the form of salary for author HTPL. The specific roles of these authors are articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section. No additional external funding was received for this study.