本研究自台灣經濟新報(TEJ)之企業社會責任(CSR)資料庫中選取1991年至2013年間,共1802筆經媒體披露之負面企業社會責任事件為研究樣本,探討事件發生後公司股利支付率及是否購回股票等支付政策的變化。實證結果發現,企業發生負面事件遭媒體揭露後,短期內確實引發市場之負向反應。此外,迴歸結果亦顯示,負面事件伴隨的短期市場反應對公司次年之股利支付率變動有顯著的正向影響,代表事件揭露後導致之負向市場反應確實會導致公司減少股利支付率;此外,本研究將樣本依事件類型區分後發現,「資訊公告問題」、「其他違法或違規問題」等兩類事件對公司股利政策影響較顯著,顯示不同類型事件影響公司後續股利政策之程度也不盡相同;然而股票購回部分卻無顯著影響。同時,為探究負面CSR事件引發的公司決策對於股東權益之影響,本研究同步探討事件後當年度及次年度公司短、長負債是否償還,及是否透過出售長期投資價款以為因應,結果也均無顯著之影響性,顯示公司並不會因負面CSR事件而改變其資本結構與投資決策。
Based on 1,802 negative corporate social responsibility (CSR) events over 1991 to 2013 from the CSR database of Taiwan Economic News (TEJ), this study examines their influence on dividend payouts and stock repurchases. Empirical results show that sample firms typically experience significantly short-term negative market reactions following such negative CSR announcements. In addition, the regression results show that the negative market responses are significantly associated with the changes in corporate dividend payouts, suggesting that sample firms appears to decrease dividend payouts following the negative CSR events. Moreover, among four types of negative CSR events, we find that the types of “information disclosure” and “other illegal” events are associated with greater decreases of dividend payouts, while we find no evidence on the changes of stock repurchases. To further explore the effect of negative CSR events on shareholders’ equity, we also examine the changes in short- and long-term debt and long-term investments. However, we find no support evidence, revealing that sample firms seem not to alter their capital structure and investment decision.