Corporate Social Responsibility: Necessary evil or Cash cow? A quantitative study on the relationship between CSR performance and financial performance in Swedish listed firms.

Abstract: The aim of this study is to investigate whether there is a relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and financial performance in Swedish firms. Data is collected from listed firms on the Stockholm Stock Exchange (OMX Stockholm). An investigation is performed on the relationship between CSR performance and financial performance within the different components of the DuPont framework. The results show a significant positive relationship between a firm's CSR rating and its financial performance. Also, an optimal level of Environmental CSR performance in order to maximize Return on Assets is identified. The study concludes that CSR can increase a firm's profitability to a certain point, after which the positive effects decrease.