The Halo Effect 光环效应
来源: 2016年考研英语（一）Text 3
官方翻译
"There is one and only one social responsibility of business," wrote Milton Friedman, a Nobel Prize-winning economist,
诺贝尔经济学奖得主、经济学家米尔顿·弗里德曼写道，“企业社会责任有且仅有一种，”
"That is, to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits."
“那就是，利用其资源，从事旨在增加其利润的活动。”
But even if you accept Friedman's premise and regard corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies as a waste of shareholders's money, things may not be absolutely clear-cut.
但是即使你同意弗里德曼的这种假设性的观点，并且认为企业社会责任政策是浪费股东的金钱，事情却并非完全如此明确。
New research suggests that CSR may create monetary value for companies — at least when they are prosecuted for corruption.
新的研究表明，企业社会责任可能为企业创造金钱价值——至少在企业因腐败而被起诉时是如此。
The largest firms in America and Britain together spend more than $15 billion a year on CSR, according to an estimate by EPG, a consulting firm.
根据咨询公司EPG的估计，美国和英国最大的公司每年在企业社会责任上的花费总计超过150亿美元。
This could add value to their businesses in three ways.
这可以在三个方面为他们的企业增加价值。
First, consumers may take CSR spending as a "signal" that a company's products are of high quality.
首先，消费者可能把企业社会责任支出视为企业产品质量高的“信号”。
Second, customers may be willing to buy a company's products as an indirect way to donate to the good causes it helps.
其次，消费者可能愿意购买这一公司的产品，算是间接地为该公司所支持的事业贡献力量。
And third, through a more diffuse "halo effect," whereby its good deeds earn it greater consideration from consumers and others.
通过更广泛的“光环效应”，这一公司的善行能让消费者和其他人有购买需求时能更多地考虑该公司。
Previous studies on CSR have had trouble differentiating these effects because consumers can be affected by all three.
以往关于企业社会责任的研究难以区分这些影响，因为消费者可能受到所有这三种影响。
A recent study attempts to separate them by looking at bribery prosecutions under American's Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
最近的一项研究试图区分这三种方式的影响，它所用的方法就是研究因违反《美国反海外腐败法》而遭到行贿起诉的案例。
It argues that since prosecutors do not consume a company's products as part of their investigations, they could be influenced only by the halo effect.
研究认为，由于检察官并不购买那些作为其调查部分的公司产品，因此他们只能受到“光环效应”的影响。
The study found that, among prosecuted firms, those with the most comprehensive CSR programmes tended to get more lenient penalties.
研究发现，在被起诉的公司中，企业社会责任计划最全面的公司往往得到更宽松的处罚。
Their analysis ruled out the possibility that it was firm's political influence, rather than their CSR stand, that accounted for the leniency:
他们的分析排除了一种可能性，即是公司的政治影响，而不是他们的企业社会责任立场，导致了宽大处理：
Companies that contributed more to political campaigns did not receive lower fines.
因为那些更多支持政治运动的公司并没有得到更低的罚金。
In all, the study concludes that whereas prosecutors should only evaluate a case based on its merits, they do seem to be influenced by a company's record in CSR.
总的来说，研究得出的结论是，尽管检察官应该只根据案件的是非曲直来评估案件，但他们似乎确实受到了企业社会责任记录的影响。
"We estimate that either eliminating a substantial labour-rights concern, such as child labour, or increasing corporate giving by about 20%
“我们估计，要么消除一个实际的劳工权益问题，比如童工问题，要么将企业捐赠增加20%左右。
results in fines that generally are 40% lower than the typical punishment for bribing foreign officials." says one researcher.
其结果是，罚金一般要比因贿赂外国官员而造成的典型罚款低40%。” 其中的一位研究者说道。
Researchers admit that their study does not answer the question of how much businesses ought to spend on CSR.
研究人员承认，他们的研究没有回答企业应该在企业社会责任上支出多少的问题。
Nor does it reveal how much companies are banking on the halo effect, rather than the other possible benefits, when they decide their do-gooding policies.
也没有揭露当企业做慈善方面的决策时，会有多看重“光环效应”，而非其他潜在收益。
But at least they have demonstrated that when companies get into trouble with the law, evidence of good character can win them a less costly punishment.
但至少他们已经证明，当公司陷入法律困境时，品行良好的证据可以为它们赢得代价较低的惩罚。
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