We test the relationship between shareholder value, stakeholder management, and social issue participation. Building better relations with primary stakeholders like employees, customers, suppliers, and communities could lead to increased shareholder wealth by helping firms develop intangible, valuable assets which can be sources of competitive advantage. On the other hand, using corporate resources for social issues not related to primary stakeholders may not create value for shareholders. We test these propositions with data from S&P 500 firms and find evidence that stakeholder management leads to improved shareholder value, while social issue participation is negatively associated with shareholder value. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Corporate political activities, or corporate attempts to shape government policy in ways favorable to the firm, are commonly employed by firms across countries. We review recent scholarly work from management, political science, economics and sociology in the area of corporate political activity (CPA), paying particular attention to the literature published since Shaffer’s [Shaffer, B. 1995. Firm-level responses to government regulation: Theoretical and research approaches. Journal of Management, 21: 495–514] review. To integrate this literature we provide a model of the antecedents of CPA, the different types of CPA, how firms organize to implement CPA and the outcomes of CPA both for public policy and firm performance. We conclude our review by proposing an agenda for future research in the area.

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