10.10.2025 Publication on the “Timing” of CSR Investments @Energy Economics

The article “Timing Corporate Social Responsibility Investments: A Dynamic Investment Model and Empirical Evidence” by Stefan Kupfer, Vladlena Prysyazhna, Elmar Lukas, and Sascha H. Mölls has been published in the journal *Energy Economics* (ENECO 143 (2025), 108196).

Vladlena Prysyazhna has been awarded the “Young Researcher Award 2025” by the Department of Economics for her publication. Prof. Dr. Elmar Lukas (University of Magdeburg) is a member of the ifG Marburg’s “Expert Panel.”

We examine the optimal timing for investments in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and provide both theoretical justifications based on models and empirical evidence. Using a dynamic investment model with costly debt financing, we are able to integrate a production economics perspective with CSR investments. This approach allows us to examine the energy efficiency of production and, consequently, the corresponding CSR measures. Our model suggests that external financing costs can delay investments, which, while increasing production, reduces energy efficiency for a given increase in productivity. Using a unique dataset on CSR reporting, supplemented by data on corporate governance and financial metrics, we calculate maximum-likelihood estimates of the risk associated with investments in CSR projects. Empirical results suggest that factors such as productivity, geographic diversification, market risks, investment and financing costs, ownership concentration, and technological risks have a significant influence on the timing of investment.