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Corporate philanthropy in the U.K. 1985-2000: some empirical findings

Campbell, D.; Moore, G.; Metzger, M.

Authors

D. Campbell

M. Metzger



Abstract

This paper briefly reviews the theories that seek to explain the phenomenon of corporate charitable donations and then provides a review of the empirical issues that have arisen in previous studies in this area. The findings of an analysis of charitable donations data from the entire U.K. FTSE index for the years 1985–2000 are then reported. These findings include the observation of a time-related increase in charitable donations, which is compared with an earlier study to give a 24 year history of charitable donations in the U.K. The findings note little responsiveness of the monetary value of charitable donations to the economic performance of firms. An international comparison over time against U.S. trends is also reported and shows how U.S. corporations have traditionally been more generous than U.K. firms, but that the trend in the U.S. is downwards. Membership of a U.K.-based "tithing" club (the PerCent Club) is shown to be associated with higher profit performance against non-members. Members' charitable contributions against profit are shown to be higher than the FTSE mean although short of the 0.5% target figure in "cash" terms. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of these findings in relation to the theoretical positions advanced for corporate philanthropy.

Citation

Campbell, D., Moore, G., & Metzger, M. (2002). Corporate philanthropy in the U.K. 1985-2000: some empirical findings. Journal of Business Ethics, 39(1-2), 29-41. https://doi.org/10.1023/a%3A1016371731732

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Aug 1, 2002
Deposit Date May 12, 2010
Journal Journal of Business Ethics
Print ISSN 0167-4544
Electronic ISSN 1573-0697
Publisher Springer
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 39
Issue 1-2
Pages 29-41
DOI https://doi.org/10.1023/a%3A1016371731732
Keywords Corporate-community-involvement, Corporate-philanthropy, Corporate-social-responsibility, Corporate-social-versus-financial-performance, PerCent-club.
Public URL https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1601042