A new global survey of business executives and investors finds growing support for corporate social responsibility, but little consensus on how to evaluate CSR in terms of shareholder value.
The McKinsey Global Survey found that a majority of CEOs believe that CSR efforts create shareholder value. But chief financial officers and professional investors have no way to place a value on those efforts and thus are less likely to consider CSR in financial decisions, according to a summary of the report.
Executives, investors and regulators believe CSR programs can build reputations and lessen the impact of corporate crises. But how such programs create shareholder value and how to measure that is not clear.
A significant proportion of survey respondents don’t fully consider CSR programs’ financial value when assessing the attractiveness of projects or companies for investment.
The perceived importance of corporate environmental, social and governance programs has grown significantly in recent years, although the global economic recession has led to a decreased focus on environmental and social causes, the report states.
In the economic climate of today, attaching a dollar value to CSR could prevent companies from cutting back on their efforts. Geoffrey Heal, a Columbia Business School professor, says companies must see CSR as profitable, not just a public relations gimmick.
"If they see CSR as contributing to their bottom line, they’ll continue to act responsibly," Heal told The Big Money, a business news website. "If they see CSR as a kind of a PR campaign, they’ll probably cut back on it."
The McKinsey survey asked CEOs, CFOs, investment professionals, institutional investors and corporate social responsibility professionals from around the world to identify whether and how environmental, social and governance programs create value and how much value they create. 
