Cayman Seagraves, an assistant professor of finance at The University of Tulsa’s Collins College of Business, has been honored with the Best Paper Award for research presented at the AfriMed Finance Society Conference held in Sardinia, Italy, in July. The paper, titled “Now You See Me: Broadband Internet, Social Media, and Corporate Social Responsibility,” was co-authored with Todd Gormley of Washington University in St. Louis and Hosein Maleki of Rutgers University.
Research by Seagraves and his colleagues explores the influence of mobile broadband internet and social media on companies’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies. Utilizing the expansion of 3G networks in U.S. counties as a natural experiment, they found that the availability of 3G around a firm’s headquarters is associated with a significant improvement in their CSR ratings. Reputation concerns, driven by the possibility of online activism and social media backlash of corporate policies, are a major driver of the results, they discovered.
“The support from UTulsa’s Collins College of Business was instrumental in my participation at this conference, allowing us to share our research on a global stage,” Seagraves said. “The event provided an excellent opportunity for networking with international academics who lead the field, offering a blend of enlightening research sessions and vibrant networking in a spectacular setting.”