In the 95 studies covered, financial performance is measured in 70 different ways (see Table 1): 49 accounting measures, 12 market measures,S measures that mix accounting and market indicators, and 4 other measures of outcome performance. The two dominant methods used to measure financial performance in these studies reflect different time horizons. Accounting measures are taken to be indicators of past performance, and market measures are taken to reflect future performance. Of the 49 accounting measures, eleven focus on risk and fourteen measure return. The return measures can be subdivided into three categories: six variants of return on equity (ROE), four variants of return on assets (ROA), and four variants of return on sales (ROS). Of the II market measures, three focus on risk and seven focus on return

3.4 Measuring Social Performance

Theorists have gradually developed a comprehensive definition of corporate social performance (Wood, 1991)," but even with a comprehensive definition in hand, measuring social performance has remained elusive. The 95 empirical studies reviewed here draw on 27 different data sources to assess social performance (Figure 3) and cover II different domains of corporate practices (Figure 4). Some scholars applaud the mUltiple methods and measures used to assess corporate social performance (Gephart, 1991; Simerly, 1999), arguing that the polyglot properly reflects the diversity of corporate practices that constitute social performance. Recurring calls have also gone out, however, to develop a set of common measures that are valid and reliable (Ruf, Muralidhar and Paul, 1998; Spicer, 1978; Wokutch and McKinney, 1991).