Harmonization of firm CSR policies across national contexts: Evidence from Brazil & Sweden

Abstract

We empirically investigate differences in CSR policy adoption between Brazil and Sweden. We find that Brazilian firms adopt CSR policies to a greater extent than Swedish firms. These differences suggest that the Swedish institutional context, where the public sector is the dominant player in the social arena, may have unintended consequences on the adoption of CSR policies by the private sector. We also find that with internationalization, a trend towards harmonization in CSR policy adoption between Brazil and Sweden is likely to happen. These results suggest that Swedish firms seek to gain legitimacy through greater CSR policy adoption at the international level.