From Governance to Recognition: How Corporate Social Responsibility Committees Influence Sustainability Awards

This study examines whether the presence of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) committees enhances firms’ likelihood of receiving sustainability awards and investigates the moderating roles of corporate sustainability strategy and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance. The findings indicate that firms with CSR committees are significantly more likely to receive sustainability awards, highlighting the importance of board-level sustainability governance in achieving external sustainability recognition. The results further show that firms with strong sustainability strategies and superior ESG performance are more likely to receive sustainability awards regardless of whether they have a CSR committee, suggesting that substantive sustainability practices are more influential than governance structures alone in securing such recognition. Moreover, CSR committees exert their strongest influence in firms with weak or moderately developed sustainability strategies. In contrast, their incremental contribution diminishes in firms with well-established sustainability strategies and high ESG performance, where recognition is driven primarily by strategic sustainability integration and demonstrated ESG outcomes. This study contributes to the corporate sustainability and governance literature by demonstrating that while CSR committees enhance firms’ prospects of obtaining sustainability awards, their effectiveness depends on the extent to which sustainability is embedded within corporate strategy and reflected in ESG performance.