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Abstract

Purpose:

We investigated the relationship between companies’ efforts to build internal (COH-INT) and external cultures of health (COH-EXT) and their stock performance.

Design:

We administered 2 surveys, which measure companies’ programs, policies, and supports for improving the health of their employees and communities. We then compared the companies’ stock performance to the Standard and Poor’s (S&P) 500 Index from January 2013 through August 2017.

Setting:

United States.

Participants:

Representatives from 17 publicly traded companies who completed the COH-INT survey, of whom 14 also completed the COH-EXT.

Measures:

Culture of health scores were dichotomized into high versus low for both surveys. Stock price data for all companies were gathered from public sources.

Analysis:

We constructed 5 stock portfolios: all 17 companies, high COH-INT, low COH-INT, high COH-EXT, and low COH-EXT companies. We examined total returns for each portfolio compared to the S&P 500.

Results:

High COH-INT companies’ stock price appreciated by 115% compared to the S&P benchmark (+69%), while low COH-INT companies appreciated only 43%. In contrast, high COH-EXT companies underperformed (+44%) when compared to the S&P 500 (+69%) and low COH-EXT companies (+89%).

Conclusion:

This study supports the view that employers’ efforts to build an internal culture of health is a sound business strategy. More research is needed, however, to establish whether a link exists between supporting healthy community initiatives and company stock performance.

Keywords

workplace health promotion workplace wellness culture of health corporate social responsibility community health business case stock price performance financial impact

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The Stock Performance of American Companies Investing in a Culture of Health

Abstract

Purpose:

Design:

Setting:

Participants:

Measures:

Analysis:

Results:

Conclusion:

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References

Supplementary Material