Research summary
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) refers to the practices and policies that companies adopt to exert a positive influence on the world—such as minimizing environmental harm or establishing a budget for charitable donations. Dr. Kai Li, Canada Research Chair in Corporate Governance, is exploring the factors that can prevent companies from investing in CSR.
She and her research team are investigating how the composition of intangible assets drives firm value in order to understand how companies can be encouraged to invest more in research and development—an important part of improving Canada’s performance on innovation. They are also examining barriers to implementing CSR, with a focus on two obstacles: cultural incongruency (conflict between management’s and employees’ values) and distortions in corporate governance (such as inadequate consideration of CSR in executive compensation). Their research will help companies figure out how they can improve CSR, which is essential for economic prosperity and to protect the environment and social values.