Encouraging Corporate Social Responsibility Research Articles

The Literature Review of ESG on Enterprise Innovation: Evidence from big data

Corporate innovation is influenced by ESG in numerous ways. This paper examines big data's role in promoting ESG in China, the US, and Japan while summarizing the ways in which ESG influences various forms of innovation. The empirical results demonstrate that the Chinese government has been aggressively encouraging corporate social responsibility and sustainable development, based on data from China, the US, and Japan. The growth of businesses in the US is mostly indicative of the promotion of ESG. The public in Japan has reasonably easy access to a variety of data and information regarding sustainable development and environmental preservation. Policymakers ought to think about quantifying ESG performance, standardizing ESG grading standards, and creating development plans tailored to individual nationsr.

Women on board and business performance

PurposeThis study aims to examine the association between women on board and business performance. It also aims to investigate the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and female directors on stock prices, including the function of female directors in moderating the CSR–market performance link that ultimately provides valuable insights into the impact of gender diversity on corporate boards.Design/methodology/approachData from US publicly listed firms between 2000 and 2018 were collected and analysed using OLS regression, median regression, M-estimator regression and MM-estimator regression at 70% and 95% efficiency. In this study, firm market value was measured through Tobin’s Q, board diversity with ISS database and CSR strength and concern with the KLD database.FindingsThe results indicated that CSR positively impacts market performance by 3.1%, female board representation positively influences market performance by 4.8% and female board members strengthen the CSR–market performance relationship by 1.0% while playing a moderating role. Overall, these studies demonstrated the significance of female boards of directors for enhancing market performance.Research limitations/implicationsThis study used the data of US-listed firms from 2000 to 2018. The results have contributed to the ongoing discussion about the importance of gender diversity in boards and its influence on firm success. Further research works are suggested to expand the analysis by including other countries or considering additional factors that may influence the association between CSR, board representation of women and market share.Practical implicationsThis study is essential for investors, legislators and CSR institutions in developed countries. The favourable impact of female board presence on market performance and the enhancement of the CSR–market performance relationship highlight the necessity of encouraging gender diversity on boards of directors and CSR activities.Social implicationsThis study emphasises the significance of gender balance on corporate boards in solving important social challenges including climate change, resource scarcity and gender equality. Companies can actively assist in addressing global issues and improving the well-being of stakeholders by promoting gender-diverse boards and encouraging CSR efforts.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first study demonstrating that gender diversity on corporate boards moderates the significant association between CSR performance and profitability in the USA. It has contributed to the expanding body of information regarding the moderating influence of female directors on firm value and stronger evidence for female directors in the governance of businesses.

Examining the Employment Dimension of Corporate Social Responsibility (Between Global Initiatives and Indonesia Statutory)

<span lang="IN">This article examines the employment aspects of CSR regulations. Every company needs a reference to verify its CSR activities support economic, social, and environmental development. The government has enacted laws to encourage corporate social responsibility (CSR). Since CSR funds are in the company's income statement, they often conflict with fiduciary duty. The study reveals that business views on CSR's employment dimension have shifted. Initially, CSR managed risk and prevented reputational and financial damages. Labor was considered an expense, not an investment. Many companies now employ CSR as a key value and competitive advantage</span>

Corporate Social Responsibility – Assessment of Facilitating and Impeding Factors for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in Latvia

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make up for ~99% of all companies in both Latvia and the European Union (EU), they are a significant contributor to national economies and should not be disregarded when discussing corporate social responsibility (CSR). SMEs are not smaller-scale versions of corporations and differ greatly in terms of managerial structure, revenues, resource availability and allocation, market reach, product and service lines, as well as available manpower. Given that a CSR strategy often necessitates additional investment, many SMEs might not anticipate it to increase the bottom line, however, a large part of consumers are willing to pay more for goods and services from a socially responsible company, and CSR can facilitate higher employee attraction and retention rates. This sets up the aim of this study, to analyse CSR initiatives deployment, and facilitating and impeding factors for SMEs in Latvia, a country that is considered to be in the transition process to a market economy. To classify important CSR facilitating and impeding factors, analysis and generalisation of multiple academic sources were used. Analysis of the regulatory framework, fundamental planning documents, international CSR, ESG and other indices, as well as a collateral examination of empirical CSR research in the EU member states and Latvia, was carried out to identify possible CSR development issues for SMEs in Latvia. The study shows that while CSR awareness is increasing in Latvia, the implementation of CSR by SMEs is limited, and there is a need for more guidance and support to promote CSR practices. The study identifies several facilitating factors, such as policy-regulatory support, social pressure, ethical considerations, and impeding factors, such as lack of resources, limited knowledge, and perceived low relevance of CSR for business, as well as the excessively bureaucratic approach in the public sector. The study highlights the importance of private and NGO stakeholder engagement with the public sector in the collaboration and promotion of CSR practices among SMEs in Latvia. Policymakers, business executives, and other stakeholders interested in encouraging CSR practices among SMEs could benefit from the findings of this study.

Can Organizational Culture Encourage Corporate Social Responsibility and Improve Environmental Performance in [B]³ Companies?

Organizational culture is one of the resources used by companies to obtain competitive advantage and organizational sustainability, whether by financial, social or environmental efficiency (Chatman & O’Reilly, 2016; Dyck et al., 2019). Another resource that is being encouraged to try and achieve sustainability is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), which can be facilitated or inhibited by organizational culture (Leandro & Rebelo, 2011; Shanak et al., 2020). Therefore, this study aims to analyze the relationship of organizational culture and CSR practices on environmental performance in companies listed on [B]³ (Brasil, Bolsa, Balcão), São Paulo’s stock exchange. The results indicated that there are no direct relations between organizational culture, environmental performance and the mediating effect; however, at the significance level of 10%, companies with high polluting potential become more harmful to the environment when there is a predominance of market and hierarchical culture.

Salience of multiple actors involved in formal and informal governance systems encouraging corporate social responsibility in an emerging market

This paper evaluates the influence of multiple actors in both formal and informal governance systems on corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices. Drawing on institutional theory, a quantitative survey was developed and conducted of a sample of 140 firms in the electronics, food, textiles, toys and personal care sectors in Brazil. We examine how institutional pressures and firm-level agency influence the emergence of different patterns of CSR. We distinguish two clusters of companies: active companies identify business outcomes and actors that effectively exert an influence on their CSR practices, while passive companies consider institutional pressures to be of minor importance. Our contribution relates first, to institutional theory concerning the role of different actors in influencing the implementation of social and environmental practices; second, to the importance of collective coordination or its absence in shaping the specific characteristics of CSR; and third, to the agency of firms in responding to institutional pressures as being dependent on their perceptions of business outcomes. The theoretical insights drawn from this study should be applicable to similar countries, that is, to emerging but politically and economically unstable markets with marked social and economic inequalities.

Board of director attributes and CSR engagement in emerging economy firms: Evidence from across Asia

This study investigates the relationship between the board of director attributes and corporate social responsibility (CSR) engagement across a sample of Asian emerging economy firms. We find a statistically positive relationship between CSR engagement and several directors' attributes including their political influence, international experience, business expertise, other directorships held and independence from management. These empirical results indicate that while corporate governance recommendations designed for developed economy firms are relevant for emerging economy firms, additional director attributes are also important in encouraging CSR engagement in emerging economy firms given the divergent institutional and resource dependency issues they face.

CSR communication strategies and stakeholder engagement of upscale hotels in social media

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate how hotels practice corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication through social media, including which content type and media type receive the highest level of engagement. Two major aspects are considered, namely, CSR communication activity and stakeholder engagement.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis is conducted for Forbes four-star to five-star hotels in Hong Kong. Facebook data are extracted from the property pages of the sample hotels by Netvizz, which is a Facebook data extraction application. The data analysis includes three steps and combines qualitative and quantitative approaches.FindingsThe results indicate that the type of information has a significant influence on engagement and has even more of an affect than the message strategy. Although the number of CSR-related posts is significantly lower than marketing-oriented posts, they achieve a comparable level of popularity and engagement. Posts encouraging CSR practices show the highest level of engagement among CSR-related posts. In terms of media and content types, video achieves the highest engagement, and posts related to discounts achieve the highest engagement.Originality/valueThis study fills the gap in the current literature by conducting a comparison between marketing and CSR communication strategies on social media. It also provides insights on how to draft more effective CSR messages.

Factors influencing students’ corporate social responsibility orientation in higher education

Given that the future of corporate social responsibility depends on upcoming generations' attitudes, a better understanding of the relationship between corporate social responsibility orientation and its predictors has significant implications for various stakeholders. This study sought to examine the factors that influence students' corporate social responsibility orientation in higher education contexts. To this end, primary data were collected through questionnaires distributed to undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, a northern Portuguese public institution. Although personal values, gender, religion, political ideology, academic field of study, and volunteerism appear to influence some corporate social responsibility orientation dimensions, the results only show significant relationships with gender, religion, and volunteerism. The most important findings include that women, religious students, and those who volunteer have a stronger philanthropic orientation and that women appear to have a more intense ethical orientation. In addition, the research conducted facilitated the definition of student profiles for each corporate social responsibility orientation dimension. This study's results provide interesting evidence of orientation-determinant links, which expands the literature on corporate social responsibility, especially regarding higher education contexts. As university students are about to make important choices regarding their careers, these findings may help to broaden the field of corporate social responsibility research by identifying factors that contribute to shaping students' corporate social responsibility orientation. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed, highlighting what still needs to be done to encourage corporate social responsibility orientation in higher education programs.

Do MOOCs encourage corporate social responsibility or are they simply a marketing opportunity?

This paper explores institutional drivers for developing MOOCs by juxtaposing them against the original drivers for generating MOOCs: to offer open access education. However, the original impetus for MOOC development may be shifting towards a business oriented model. Therefore, instead of contributing to corporate social responsibility and inclusivity agendas facilitating open access to education, MOOCs are akin to an institution's shop window allowing the pseudo 'purchaser' the opportunity to glimpse behind the scenes. Hence, we ask: are MOOCs merely a sophisticated form of window dressing, showing pseudo 'purchasers' what institutions want them to see enticing them to purchase more lucrative products? Notwithstanding the motivation for developing MOOCs participants must first access them. Therefore the paper examines what MOOCs actually offer participants who are likely to access them and concludes by examining how MOOCs can be developed to facilitate better completion rates and encourage wider participation from hard to access groups.

Salience of Multiple Actors Encouraging Corporate Social Responsibility

The study evaluates the salience of multiple actors involved in formal and informal governance systems in the adoption of corporate social responsibility practices. This study addresses an empirica...

Role of public policies in promoting CSR: empirical evidence from business and civil society of UAE

Purpose This paper aims to explore the intermediary roles that public policies play in stimulating government agencies, businesses and civil society to engage in a corporate social responsibility (CSR) agenda. Design/methodology/approach Issues related to decision-making of public policies are increasingly complex. Therefore, analytical hierarchy process has been used to prioritize public policy practices for CSR in the UAE. Data were collected from experts working in businesses and civil society organizations. Findings Findings suggest that businesses and the civil society confirm the importance of standardization and law enforcement public policy practices in issues related to CSR in developing countries. The endorsing style of public policies was the least important approach to encouraging CSR implementation in the UAE. Research limitations/implications Results are derived from a limited amount of empirical data only in one country; therefore, these cannot be generalized. Future research from other countries is needed. Practical implications Outcomes from this study will help the government enhance its role as mediator among all agents and help with designing public policies that encourage adoption of CSR by business firms while maintaining competitiveness in the economy. Originality/value A framework consisting of five public policy categories – mandating, facilitating, partnering, endorsing and empowering roles – and 29 sub-policy practices is introduced. This study provides an important technique for analyzing the importance of public policies in promoting CSR. It offers insights into a population that shapes a CSR agenda.

Corporate social responsibility and corporate fraud

PurposeThis study aims to examine the impact of corporate culture, measured by corporate social responsibility (CSR), on the likelihood and severity of corporate fraud. CSR literature indicates that corporate managers are moral actors and are obliged to exercise their discretionary decisions according to their moral standards. Based on the moral development theory, this study argues that higher managers’ ethical values reflected by higher CSR activities are less likely to commit fraud and have lower severity of fraud.Design/methodology/approachThis study argues that at the firm level, corporate culture can be measured by firms’ CSR activities. Using probit, match-pair, propensity matching and Heckman regressions on a sample of 152 criminal corporate fraud cases in the USA from the US Department of Justice (DOJ) during 2000 and 2010, this study empirically examines the impact of CSR, CSR strengths and concerns scores on the likelihood and the severity of corporate fraud.FindingsFirms with higher CSR and CSR strengths (concerns) scores have lower (higher) likelihood and lower (higher) severity of corporate fraud. This study finds that firms with higher community, employee, environment and product-related CSR have lower likelihood of fraud, and firms with higher diversity, employee, environment and product-related CSR have lower fraud severity.Practical implicationsEstablishing a positive corporate ethical culture is essential to curb the outbreak of corporate fraud that threatens our societal norms. The findings also shed some light for investors, corporate board of directors and regulators to consider CSR as a reflection of top managers’ moral values that is negatively related to the occurrence and severity of corporate fraud.Social implicationsStrengthening moral values among top executives and employees in corporations by encouraging CSR activities aid our society to alleviate future outbreak of epidemic problem for corporate fraud.Originality/valueThis study brings a new perspective that there is a relationship between corporate ethical culture within an organization, measured by CSR activities, and corporate fraud based on the cognitive moral development theory in organization.

Sense of Place or Sense of Belonging? Developing Guidelines for Human-centered Outdoor Spaces in China that Citizens Can be Proud of

Creating livable cities through cultural development is important not only because of the inherent value of culture itself, but also because of the social, economic, and environmental benefits afforded by communities with increased pride and attachment to places and people they share the city with. This is increasingly more critical for children and young people, as educating them to become better citizens, it also do strongly relate with development habits and their awareness of interacting with outdoor environments surrounding them. For inhabitants of cities to live an enriched life in every means, they require more than just the infrastructure and the trappings of material wealth: They require an attachment to a place, a sense of belonging and a sense of purpose, of which, a sound cultural development can help generate.Given the central government's recent emphasis in the 13th 5-year plan on encouraging creative and innovative industries, it is relevant to generate programs on cultural development focusing on younger generations. Through this, municipal governments can improve the quality of life and empower the young generation to shape the long-term prosperity of their cities.What are various ways to develop solutions based on strengthening community relations? What are the dynamics of relationship of people with each other from different social milieu? Potential discussion areas include deployment of policies such as providing grants for artists and innovators, creating tax incentives that encourage corporate social responsibility programs, and restructuring public processes to ease among different social milieu of same generation as well among different generations.

Community Institutions and Initial Diffusion of Corporate Social Responsibility Practices in China's Banking Industry

ABSTRACTThe existing literature does not provide adequate insight into the initial diffusion of new management practices, especially those that yield no immediate economic benefits, and have not yet gained legitimacy. We study how firms’ local institutional environments influence early adoption behavior, examining the spread of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports in China's banking industry from 2006 to 2011. We find that banks are more likely to be first movers of CSR reporting if they operate in communities where more companies publish CSR reports or where there are guidelines encouraging CSR reporting, and the impacts of these two institutional factors are further moderated by the length of time that banks have operated in communities. Our study highlights the usefulness of institutional theory in understanding the initial adoption of new management practices, when the organizational field is defined as a geographic community instead of an industry sector and its supply chain.

The bidirectional CSR investment – economic performance relationship

Purpose– This paper aims to investigate the following two research questions: Do corporate social responsibility (CSR) investments enhance a firm’s economic performance? Does the firm’s economic performance influence CSR investments? That is, the bidirectional relationship between CSR investments and economic performance.Design/methodology/approach– This paper analyzes three types of CSR investments (environmental, labor-related and social investments) using a simultaneous equations model with a data set of 185 Japanese firms.Findings– Environmental investments reduce economic performance, labor-related investments do not significantly affect economic performance and social investments increase economic performance. Moreover, strong economic performance decreases environmental investments but increases social investments. Labor-related investments are chosen considering economic performance in both the present and previous terms.Practical implications– For managers, environmental and labor-related investments are not effective for improving economic performance. However, eradicating them completely might harm corporate reputation. In contrast, social investments have now become important. For policymakers, different approaches may be adopted to encourage firms to increase CSR investments. In some cases, policymakers can rely on firm initiatives instead of regulating or encouraging CSR activities.Originality/value– First, the authors empirically examine the bidirectional relationship between CSR investments and economic performance. Second, they clarify the determinants of CSR by specifying the investment function of each type of CSR. Third, they consider three types of CSR investments, with interrelations among them allowed in the model, and determine how each type affects firm performance.

Disciplining Regions: Subnational Contention in Neoliberal Peru

This article examines tensions between two governance trends that have impacted subnational regions across the global south in recent decades: liberalization and decentralization. Although both trends diminish the prerogatives of the central state, a shift in focus from national to subnational scales reveals important contradictions between the two trends. Through an in-depth examination of the Peruvian case, the article explores the scope for resistance to neoliberalism in subnational regions that have become politically empowered via decentralization. Pushed by their constituents, subnational elected officials have sought to contest and disrupt the neoliberal mining policies that were adopted by Alberto Fujimori's authoritarian government over two decades ago and that his successors have maintained in the years since re-democratization. The national government has responded to this opposition by defending neoliberalism from substantive challenges and by adopting new strategies to discipline subnational regions. These include not just attempts to weaken regional efforts at territorial regulation and to encourage corporate social responsibility by mining companies, but new tax programmes that invite the private sector to displace the state at the subnational level by playing direct roles in infrastructure and service provision.

Ethical and Social Responsibility of Financial Institutions: Influence of Internal and External Pressure

Abstract Financial institutions are expected to embed sustainable business practices as part of their ethical approach in conducting their businesses. This study examines the role of internal and external pressures in encouraging corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting among financial institutions in Malaysia. The sample for the study comprised of 20 financial institutions in Malaysia over a four-year period from 2008 – 2011. Content analyses of annual and sustainability reports were undertaken to measure the quality of ethical and social responsibility reporting among the financial institutions. An un-weighted CSR quality disclosure index was developed to measure the quality of information reported. The findings of the study revealed that the quality of CSR information disclosed improved over the four-year period. This is a positive development suggesting that the financial institutions are becoming more socially responsible. The results of the study also revealed that it is the external pressure in the form of concentrated ownership and customers’ pressure that can either inhibit or motivate the quality of CSR reporting while the internal pressure prove not to be a significant driver in promoting the quality of CSR reporting.

Government policies for corporate social responsibility in Europe: a comparative analysis of institutionalisation

This paper analyses policies of 22 European Union member governments, designed to encourage corporate social responsibility (CSR) between 2000 and 2011. It categorises these policies by their regulatory strength and identifies the range of issues to which CSR policies are directed. The paper argues that Northern European, Scandinavian and UK governments are reconstructing their respective institutional structures to embed CSR concerns more explicitly therein. It concludes that these government CSR initiatives are converging, particularly around their increased regulatory strength and the broadening of their issue application. Policies in Mediterranean and the former communist countries do not reflect increasing institutionalisation.

Business, Peace and Mining: A Literature Review

This article reframes mining company-community conflict in terms of the emerging literature on business and peace by surveying the relevant literature. The article begins by explaining the role of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practice in the mining context. Next, one stream of foundational scholarship launching contemporary inquiries into business and peace is summarized. Following is a discussion of publications that specifically mention peace and conflict in relation to the mining context. Next, gaps in the literature featuring peace and/or mining are highlighted. The article concludes that mining companies, just as much as other businesses, have a meaningful role to play in supporting and contributing to conditions of peace in their operating environments. The CSR space in the mining context is suggested as a place to advance positive peace initiatives in both research and practice. By encouraging CSR practitioners to emphasize positive peace in the mining context, the potential to support the development of holistic, productive and sustainable conflict outcomes between mining companies and affected communities could be increased.