Abstract: Despite the numerous corporate social responsibility-corporate performance relationship studies that have been carried out so far, researchers have not adequately established how sustaining the well-being of employees and how generating the economic welfare of the society affect the value of industrial goods firms in Nigeria, especially as the industrial sector contributes substantially to the economic development of Nigeria. Payment of employees’ benefits and corporate tax have been globally acknowledged as contributors to society’s social and economic welfare and corporate image booster but, their effects on corporate performance have not been adequately investigated in the industrial goods sector of Nigeria. This study was therefore carried out to fill the foregoing gaps. The study revealed that in Nigeria’s industrial goods manufacturing sector, firms were rewarded when they sincerely fulfilled their ethical social responsibility of paying employees benefits but, were not so rewarded when they fulfilled their ethical economic responsibility of paying their corporate taxes. There have been arguments among Nigerian firms about choosing the right social and economic responsibility projects that will enable them to improve their corporate performances. This study therefore, assists managers to understand how payment of employees’ benefits and corporate tax boost corporate image, attract investors, increase the demand for company shares, increase share prices and influence corporate performance and this understanding enables firms to position themselves as socially and economically responsible organizations.

social responsibility, economic responsibility, employee benefits, corporate tax, corporate performance and return on assets.