CEOs - these are people who are hired to make money for their companies' shareholders, of course. Some people would like CEOs to commit to another objective - to make money in a socially responsible way or to give away money to help their communities.

A lot of people view CSR as a poor investment, that that money could have been spent elsewhere within the firm in a more traditional type of investment like research and development where there's much more of a clear linkage between that investment and the firm's bottom line.

Tim Hubbard, Dane Christensen, and Scott Graffin decided to analyze whether the investments were a net positive or a net negative. And they decided to use a very simple metric - what do these investments mean for the well-being and the longevity of the CEO who is basically directing these investments?

We see this double-edged sword where if the firm is doing well, investments in corporate social responsibility can buffer a CEO from dismissal. But on the other hand, if there's negative financial performance, it can really set the CEO up for a situation where they could likely be terminated.

Read the full article on corporate social responsibility at NPR