The impact of CSR certification on firm profitability, wages and sales

We use synthetic control group methods to analyse the causal impact of CSR certification on the economic performance of a small set of Italian manufacturing firms that underwent SA8000 certification in 2009 or 2010. We find no evidence of a positive or negative impact of SA8000 certification on firm profitability and wages. The only outcome variable for which effects are positive and weakly significant in many instances are firms' turnover to assets ratios. From this we conclude that SA8000 certification has no strong impact on firm profitability and wage costs, but that it may be a viable marketing tool that increases company sales.