Corporate Social Responsibility and Financial Performance in the Airline Industry in Central and Eastern Europe

This paper contributes to the knowledge on corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives of by businesses and its ability to influence their financial performance. Consequently, the main objective is to examine the relationship between CSR and financial performance in the airline industry in Central and Eastern Europe. The paper does not attempt to establish causality between CŚR and financial performance. The paper attempts to contribute to the existing knowledge in the field by examining the extent to which CSR relates to financial performance of airline firms. A sample of 20 audited financial statements of airline firms were selected randomly. The study analyzed the impact of CSR activities on the financial performance of firms. The Return on Equity (ROE) and Return on Assets (ROA) were used as indicators to measure financial performance of firms whiles the independent variables were Community Performance (CP), Environment Management System (EMS) and Employee Relations (ER). The study found that there is a significant positive relationship between CSR initiatives and financial performance measures. More specifically, there was found to be a positive relationship between the independent variables of CSR thus, CP, EMS and ER and the financial performance of airline firms in terms of the ROE and ROA.