Does the market value the affiliation of French firms with the UN Global Compact

Abstract

The UN Global Compact Leaders Summit held in New York on June 2010 marked the 10th anniversary of the UN Global Compact (Adams and Petrella, 2010). From its humble beginnings in 2000, the Global Compact has grown to encompass more than 8,700 corporate participants and others stakeholders, including over 7,700 businesses from 130 countries around the world. It is the world’s largest voluntary corporate responsibility initiative. The benefits for companies voluntarily affiliating with the UN Global Compact have been little documented from an empirical perspective. This affiliation is on a voluntary basis, which raises questions about the integration of this information by capital markets. This study attempts to address these questions, drawing on a sample of French companies listed on the SBF 250 index. Results suggest that, in the French context, investors do not significantly value firm's affiliation with the UN Global Compact.