I have the privilege to provide a discussion of Paik, Lee, and Krumwiede (2017; hereafter, PLK). PLK examine corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in response to a worker safety incident at an outsourced facility in a foreign country, and the related market reactions to both the incident and subsequent corporate responses. The Savar building in Dhaka, Bangladesh was home to a large number of garment production facilities. In April 2013, the building collapsed, resulting in the deaths of 1,129 people. In response to this tragedy, European and U.S. retail firms initiated two worker safety agreements (WSAs) in an effort to improve working conditions for outsourced facilities abroad. PLK examine the incentives for firms that signed these agreements, and the corresponding market responses.
In its 19th Annual Global CEO Survey, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC 2016) identified CSR as a core business value for a majority of firms. Given the prominence...
