Font Size: 

The purpose of this time-series research was to explore what differentiated communities in which firms sought to better the community, from those communities where firms who did not believe in bettering them resided. That is, are firms’ managers that seek to better their communities located in communities that differ from those communities where firms’ managers who do not believe in bettering them locate? If so, how do the communities differ? We asked firms’ CEOs the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with the statement: Companies should contribute to the betterment of their local communities. We dichotomized their responses for consistency over a two-year timeframe and regressed upon this reliable dependent variable several features of communities, defined by zip code, where these firms were located. We explored the location’s crime index, unemployment, percentage of residents with a Bachelors degree or higher, the percentage annual resident turnover, population size, and percentage of residents with children. We controlled for firm size using revenues and number of employees. We found that firms seeking to better their communities resided in communities with lower unemployment, more education, and lower turnover. This exploratory research is one of the first to look at the geographic conditions where firms reside and the association of such conditions with what the firm’s manager believes about the firm’s role in the community.

community betterment, manager's beliefs, community attributes