Social Responsibility Commitment Research Articles

Sustainable governance and climate-change disclosure in European banking: the role of the corporate social responsibility committee

PurposeThe purposes of this paper are: firstly, to assess the disclosure related to climate change (CC) by major European banks to understand if the banks have grasped the most substantive aspects of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations and secondly, to evaluate the contribution of a non-traditional committee (i.e. corporate social responsibility (CSR) committee) to TCFD-compliant disclosure.Design/methodology/approachUsing content analysis and ordinary least squares regressions on a sample of 101 European banks, this study sought to investigate completeness, tone and forward-looking orientation of CC disclosure and explore the relationships between CSR committee and previous disclosure aspects.FindingsThis study shows that European banks have been able to reach an intermediate level of adequacy of compliance in terms of completeness of information but forward-looking orientation seems to be the aspect that needs the most improvement. The existence of a CSR committee dedicated to sustainability issues seems to constitute the difference between the banks in terms of disclosure. The results highlight vulnerabilities in disclosure and board characteristics relevant for improving CC disclosure.Practical implicationsFirms interested in strengthening stakeholder engagement and capturing strategic opportunities involved in CC should be encouraged to establish a CSR committee and appoint female directors in financial companies. This paper should be of interest to policymakers, governance bodies and boards of directors considering the initiative of corporate sustainable governance complementary to Directive 2014/95/EU on non-financial reporting by the European Commission.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, no prior study has investigated the relationship between the CSR committee and the application of the TCFD’s recommendations in the European banking industry.

Analyzing the Relationship between Perceived Social Responsibility and Employees' Affective Commitment and Green Behaviors: Mediating Role of Ethical Climate

Analyzing the Relationship between Perceived Social Responsibility and Employees' Affective Commitment and Green Behaviors: Mediating Role of Ethical Climate

Does Business Group’s Conscious of Social Responsibility Enhance its Investment Efficiency? Evidence from ESG Disclosure of China’s Listed Companies

Business groups are industry exemplars whose investment decisions and social responsibility commitments are important for future sustainable development. We use data from China’s listed firms from 2012 to 2018 to investigate the effects of ESG-related disclosure on corporate investment efficiency by comparing the heterogeneity in ESG-related disclosure between group-affiliated firms and standalone firms, as well as between member firms within groups at different pyramid levels. We find that (1) group-affiliated firms are more willing to disclose ESG information than independent ones, and compared with lower-level pyramid member firms, higher-level pyramid member firms have a higher propensity of ESG disclosure; (2) over-investment for group-affiliated firms and under-investment for higher-level pyramid member firms are all moderated by their higher propensity for ESG disclosure. That is, corporate disclosure of ESG information significantly promotes investment efficiency; (3) by grouping the sample firms according to analyst attention and industry external financing dependence, respectively, we find that the promotion effect of ESG disclosure on corporate investment efficiency is more significant when the firms are followed by fewer analysts, or when firms belong to industries with higher external financing dependence. Our findings suggest that ESG disclosure plays an important role in driving a firm’s investment toward desirable levels.

Political affiliation types and corporate social responsibility (CSR) commitment: evidence from Indonesia

PurposeThis study aims to examine the association between political affiliation types and corporate social responsibility (CSR) commitment for listed companies in Indonesia stock exchange (emerging economy) from 2015 to 2017.Design/methodology/approachThe final sample of this research is 1,121 firm-year observations across industries, except the financial sector, because they are under different regulations. To estimate the association, ordinary least square regression is used. Also, the authors check our results using an alternative measure of political affiliations, additional control variables and the generalized method of moment model for endogeneity problems.FindingsThe result indicates that corporate political affiliations, particularly through military and industry-specialized people, have a significantly positive effect on CSR commitment. After testing for endogeneity problems, the findings remain similar.Research limitations/implicationsThis study implies to the literature by providing empirical findings on how different types of political connections, particularly affiliation through board members with the specifically industry-specialized person and military, influence CSR commitments. Also, the authors show an exchange relationship between government and affiliated firms as the primary external motivation for performing CSR in Indonesia. When investors, creditors and policymakers comprehend the political incentives behind CSR performance, it can enable them to create better business valuations and effective CSR strategies in developing countries. However, this study is subject to several limitations. First, the authors do not examine the effect of a different regime with different types of power. Second, the qualitative aspect of the association between political affiliation and CSR is not explored yet.Originality/valueThe authors investigate the impact of several types of political affiliations on the nonfinancial outcome (CSR) in the context of an emerging country where business practices are heavily influenced by political connections and the military’s dominance.

Reporting of Corporate Social Responsibility Practices : An Evidence from Indian BSE-Listed Companies

CSR activities presently spread across a wide scope of zones including environmental protection and biological protection. As per Section 135 under Schedule VII of Companies Act (2013) in Indian context, it furnishes that each organization in India with a total asset holding exceeding or equals to ₹five hundred crore rupees or an annual sales of exceeding or equals to ₹1000 crores rupees or a net profit of more than or equals to ₹5 crore rupees for any one financial year is required to establish a Corporate Social Responsibility Committee. Using the sample of BSE listed corporates across several industrial sectors in India, the objective of the study is to investigate whether there is an improvement in the corporate social responsibility scores of companies over the predetermined time range (from 2014-15 to 2019-20). Application of paired samples t-test as to test whether the mean difference between two groups is significantly different from zero indicates interesting CSR based outcomes for the items designed under CSR checklist. The derived findings were also found to be robust to the application of non-parametric statistical testing technique. It has generated suitable research insights for the academicians and policy makers of Indian corporate sector and will facilitate them to establish appropriate CSR norms to be applicable in India

Women leaders and corporate social performance: do critical mass, CEO managerial ability and corporate governance matter?

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the impact of top management team (TMT)'s gender diversity on corporate social performance (CSP). It sheds light on inconsistent results in literature by testing the moderator effects of chief executive officer (CEO) managerial ability and corporate governance (CG) on such impact.Design/methodology/approachA dynamic panel estimator is applied to an international sample of 8640 firm‐year observations from 2013 to 2017.FindingsThe author finds reliable evidence that the critical mass of at least three women leaders has a positive impact on the firm's CSP. Obtained results suggest, moreover, the deterrence effects of CEO managerial ability and CG tools (board independence, board gender diversity, the presence of a corporate social responsibility committee and family control) on the women leaders' contribution to the firm's CSP level. These results remain consistent with alternative measures for women leaders and CEO managerial ability. However, findings are lost when women achieve the CEO position, the chairperson position or both positions, which imply that men and women leadership styles are closely similar rather than different. Furthermore, women leaders' effect on CSP seems dependent (do not) on the country (industry) which a firm belongs to.Practical implicationsFrom a practical standpoint, the study highlights the importance of fostering the achievement of a critical mass of women leaders and the combination of CEO managerial ability – educational/professional backgrounds – and CG attributes to improve the firm's CSP. The study has important implications for investors and regulators. If investors wish to increase CSP, they should ask for more gender diversified TMTs. Furthermore, this study supports regulators in their efforts to increase senior women's quotas by providing empirical evidence of better social outcomes under leader gender diversity. The study’s evidence is also useful for companies in setting the criteria to identify CEOs who can support their strategic decisions.Originality/valueBy studying the impact female leaders have on CSP under CEO managerial ability and CG as moderators, this study is the first to display complementarities and substitutions between CEO's managerial ability and selected CG attributes in the promotion of CSP by female senior executives. Furthermore, it fills the void on how TMT's gender diversity impact CSP. In fact, while it is conventionally considered that women are more likely to engage in socially responsible activities, sensitive findings of this study shed light on the brighter side of female executives when they achieve the CEO, the chairperson position or both positions.

The Social Responsibility of the Sports Sector

Having employed a documentary method,this study aimed at highliting the fact that the sports sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, represented by the Ministry of Sports, the Social Responsibility Committee, and the sports clubs, has carried out its social responsibility in accordance with the ISO26000 standard specifications and the extent to which the dimensions of the seventh field manifested in its support for the activities of the larger community,the social and cultural development, and the economic development were achieved. The study has also used the content analysis method for the documents published and issued by those sectors, and has come to a conclusion with a number of results, the most prominent of which is that the Ministry of Sports has a large and effecatious role in effecting a social impact in society, being evident in the Ministry’s adoption of the philosophy of social responsibility and making it one of its strategic goals. Besides,the Ministry has put forth a number of initiatives, covering the axes of the seventh field of the standard specifications, and it has thus been present in supporting the activities of the larger international and local community, and the social, cultural , and economic development, as well as taking care of the issues of the society and its various sectors. Albeit, the efforts of the Social Responsibility Committee have been tangible in the axes of the field though to a lesser degree, it has tried within the limits of its capabillities to play a prominent social role, such as its success in motivating the clubs to have a palpable presence and a social responsibility.Moreover, some clubs have presented acceptable models of social responsibility and have also covered some dimensions of the seventh axis although this presence has been limited only to some clubs and most of the clubs, especially the public ones, have been absent from the scene.

Can a corporate social responsibility committee be utilized to enhance the effectiveness of independent directors?

The aim of this study is to investigate the role of board independence on environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance and the moderating role of a corporate social responsibility (CSR) committee on the relationship between these variables. The sample includes 2,925 companies from 18 industries and 38 countries for the period of 2002–2020. To test our hypotheses, we developed a regression model based on the panel data dependence technique. The results confirm that the establishment of a CSR committee within the board moderates the relationship between board independence and ESG performance. A CSR committee acts as a booster into enhancing the effectiveness of the board as a corporate governance mechanism. This article contributes to the academic literature evidencing the importance of establishing a sub-committee within the board of directors delegated to CSR issues. It provides also interesting insights for companies and policy makers for formulating future guidelines on corporate governance.

The influence of corporate governance factors on ESG rating of industrial and IT companies

The article examines the impact of сorporate governance factors on the еnvironmental, social, and governance rating in companies from industrial and IT sectors. The aim of this study is to identify and measure the impact of corporate governance factors on ESG rating in industrial and IT sectors. The research also includes a country-specific analysis: for European, Asian and American companies. The dependent variable is ESG rating — an indicator of the company’s compliance with environmental, social and governance standards. The paper considers observations of 80 companies since 2005 to 2020. The results of this study showed that the most significant practices in European companies are the presence of a policy of independence of the board of directors and an increase in the percentage of non-executive members. For Asian companies, corporate governance factors such as the presence of a policy of independence of the board of directors, an increase in the percentage of non-executive directors effect positively. For American companies, the following practices positively influence the ESG rating — the existence of a policy of independence of the board of directors and the corporate social responsibility committee and an increase in the percentage of women on the board of directors. In terms of sectors, the results showed that information technology companies are positively affected by an increase in the percentage of non-executive members, the presence of a corporate social responsibility committee, and an increase in average age. Also, if the chairperson is a woman the chances of getting a higher ESG rating increase. In industrial sector companies, the presence of a corporate social responsibility committee and a policy of independence of the board of directors, as well as the fact that the chairman was a CEO, are positively affected. These results can be used by companies to develop a plan to improve corporate performance.

Corporate social responsibility and organizational commitment: evidence from Kazakhstan

Purpose: This study aims to analyze how Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) affects employees’ organizational commitment.Design / methodology / approach: Data were collected through a self-administered survey questionnaire. A total of 230 complete questionnaires were obtained from restaurant employees in Kazakhstan. The Cronbach alpha, descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and regression were employed to examine the association among corporate social responsibility and organizational commitment.Findings: The findings reveal that employees show more commitment to organization if involved in CSR activities. Results reveal a significant positive relationship of all four perspectives of CSR with organizational commitment.Practical and Theoretical Implications: This study sheds light on the reconsideration of CSR initiatives in developing loyal employees. This study also confirms the social identity theory and suggests that employees are social actors who join the organization if it best suits their self-interests, especially in context of CSR.Originality / value: Notwithstanding the significance of CSR awareness, several studies have explored customers’ and firms’ perceptions, whereas only a few studies have explored employees’ CSR perceptions.This study deepens the knowledge and aftermath of CSR from the employees’ perception. It is pivotal to know the employees’ perceptions of CSR activities for restaurant management because employees turn CSR statements into actions. According to our best knowledge, this is the first study that investigates the impact of CSR on the organizational commitment of service sector employees in Kazakhstan.

Corporate governance and environmental disclosure through integrated reporting

PurposeIn recent years, integrated reporting has emerged as a tool to provide environmental information in an interconnected way. However, in the academic literature, the amount of environmental information contained in integrated reports has never been analysed. This study, through the stakeholder-agency theory, aims to fill this important gap by examining the impact of the corporate governance mechanisms on the level of environmental information disseminated by the firms through integrated reports.Design/methodology/approachA manual content analysis based on an environmental disclosure index consisting of 30 items was performed to measure the amount of environmental information. In addition, a regression analysis was performed on a sample of 129 international firms to examine the impact of the corporate governance mechanisms on the level of environmental information disseminated through integrated reports.FindingsThe results show a positive effect of the board size, board gender diversity and corporate social responsibility committee existence on the level of environmental disclosure. Furthermore, they show a non-significant impact of board independence.Originality/valueThis study enriches the literature in several ways. First, it extends the field of application of the stakeholder-agency theory. Second, this study extends the analysis of environmental disclosure to another document – the integrated report – still unexplored by academic literature. Finally, it shed light on the determinants of environmental disclosure.

Resource Curse Thesis: Nigerian Experience of Oil Theft

The emergence of the crime of oil theft and illegal refineries is not sudden but the realization of its negative economic impact on the national economy and the business of multinational oil companies have taken the State and the companies by storm shortly after the Presidential proclamation of amnesty in 2009 was configured to fob-off militancy in the Niger Delta of Nigeria. This paper attempts to address the resource curse of oil theft and illegal refineries in the region from a legal theoretical framework running through the various socio-legal theories through which the crime can be viewed and explained. It panders to the critical theoretical school which attributes the causes mainly to State and multinational oil company failures in infrastructural development and social responsibility commitments to the indigenous minority ethnic communities of the Niger Delta region of Nigeria rather than the orthodox school which blames the militants for ‘greed not grievance’ instincts. It employs the analytical, historical and doctrinal methods in presenting and analyzing its research data and in drawing its conclusions. The paper finds that two major and mutually repugnant tendencies in the explanation of the crime crop up from the research records. The one pursued by State actors which is anti-recognition and vehemently opposed to oil theft and local refineries and which calls for their bombardments and annihilation through the instrumentality of military strike force, JTF, and the other which is purveyed by non-State actors which is pro-oil theft that believes that the best approach ought to be condonation, legal regulation and mainstreaming of the phenomenon as part of an indigenous building block of development. This latter perspective discountenances the employment of brute force in the confrontation of the phenomenon and is thus recommended in this paper.

Impact of Board Gender Diversity on Corporate Social Responsibility and Irresponsibility: Empirical Evidence from France

While prior studies have investigated the impact of corporate governance mechanisms on corporate social responsibility (CSR) commitment, researchers have scantly studied the potentially important relationship between board gender diversity and corporate social responsibility and irresponsibilityseparately. Drawing on the social role theory and feminist ethics, we hypothesizethat board gender diversity is positively associated with CSR and negatively associated with corporate social irresponsibility (CSI).Here, we relied on a sample of French non-financial companies listed on the SBF 120 index between 2011 and 2016. Our results provide evidence on the positive impact of board gender diversity on CSR and the negative one on CSI. We show that women have a stronger impact on reducing CSI than on enhancing CSR. Our findings were robust to the different estimation methods.

(Des)igualdad de género y fútbol. ¿Qué fue del Comité de RSC de la RFEF en el caso de la Supercopa en Arabia Saudí de 2020?

Este artículo analiza el recorrido que tuvo el denominado Comité de Responsabilidad Social Corporativa de la Real Federación Española de Fútbol (RFEF). Se trata de un órgano consultivo constituido en 2019 y disuelto a mediados de 2020. Nos interesa conocer las acciones que llevó a cabo en ese periodo. Para ello, se interpretan los testimonios de entrevistas realizadas a algunos de los miembros externos que formaron parte del comité. Nos centramos en aquellas actuaciones en materia de igualdad de género y con esta intención se propone como caso paradigmático la celebración de la Super Copa de España en Arabia Saudí. Se trata de un acontecimiento controvertido, sobre el que el Comité planteó recomendaciones concretas.

CSR and job satisfaction: Role of CSR importance to employee and procedural justice

ABSTRACT This research develops and empirically validates a model that examines how employees’ perceptions of a firm’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) commitment, specifically, social CSR and environmental CSR, may influence job satisfaction, as mediated by CSR importance to employee. In addition, we demonstrate that this mediation effect varies according to the level of procedural justice. Analyses of survey data collected from 264 employees find support for the hypotheses. Notably, the interactive effect of procedural justice and environmental CSR turns out to be negative. This research contributes to the emerging CSR-related literature in marketing and provides new insights into the justice-CSR interface.

The higher they climb, the harder they fall: The role of self‐brand connectedness in consumer responses to corporate social responsibility hypocrisy

AbstractPast research shows how information about corporate irresponsibility that contradicts an organization's social responsibility commitments causes hypocrisy perceptions. Extant research on stakeholder engagement however, has not explained how inconsistent corporate social responsibility (CSR) information affects the perceptions of consumers strongly connected with a brand. This study investigates how, rather than protecting the firm against hypocrisy perceptions, self‐brand connectedness magnifies the negative effect of inconsistent CSR information. We tested the research hypotheses across two experimental studies, using both fictitious and real brands in two different industries. We estimated a multi‐group structural equation model model to show how self‐brand connectedness increases people's willingness to distance themselves from the hypocritical brand. Results show that consumers that feel close to the hypocritical brand have a stronger desire to disengage their identity from the brand and protect their self‐esteem. The desire to avoid the brand in turn drives more negative consumer reactions in terms of brand attitudes, brand loyalty and negative word of mouth. Our findings contribute to the literature by demonstrating that a close relationship between the consumer and the brand may aggravate behavioral reactions to hypocrisy perceptions. This is the first study to consider how hypocrisy perceptions influence attitude and behaviors of consumers that are closely connected to the company. Our results extend research on hypocrisy perceptions and brand avoidance by showing that closely connected consumers are especially likely to reject brands that send inconsistent messages about their involvement in CSR.

The impact of board and hotel characteristics on biodiversity reporting: market diversification as a moderator

PurposeThis study aims to explain how board and hotel characteristics affect biodiversity reporting and to test the moderating effect of market diversification.Design/methodology/approachThe annual reports of 105 hotels were examined for the period between 2016 and 2017 to analyse these hotels’ biodiversity reporting using content analysis. The partial least squares technique was used to test the proposed relationships.FindingsThe results show that the number of board members who are also on the corporate social responsibility committee, number of board members who are in environmental organizations, the star rating of the hotel, hotel size and hotel location have significant positive effects on the extent of biodiversity reporting. In addition, market diversification moderates positively the effects of number of board members with environmental experience and number of board members from environmental organizations on the extent of biodiversity reporting.Practical implicationsThe results of this study will be useful in enabling hotel manager and investors to become knowledgeable about these aspects of boards, which lead to higher biodiversity reporting. This study can also inform policymakers about the types of hotels that are less likely to disclose biodiversity reports and to develop effective enforcement of regulations.Originality/valueThese findings extend the literature on biodiversity reporting by exploring the importance of board and hotel characteristics on the extent of biodiversity reporting and testing the moderating effect of market diversification.

When the paper tiger bites: Evidence of compliance with unenforced regulation among employers in Sweden

AbstractLittle evidence exists on whether and why organizations comply with regulations that are not monitored or enforced. To address that shortage, this study evaluates the 2007 repeal of an essentially unenforced regulation mandating private and local government employers in Sweden to post their vacancies publicly at the Public Employment Service. Exploiting the fact that central government employers were not affected, difference‐in‐differences analyses identify a substantial negative effect of the repeal on local government employers' vacancy posting propensity – with similar results for the private sector. At odds with deterrence models of regulatory compliance, these findings hint at an important role for organizational factors related to cultures and norms. Heterogeneity analyses indicate that local governments with more law‐abiding organizational culture and stronger social responsibility commitment were more prone to comply with the unenforced regulation. The results thus simultaneously point to an untapped potential and to some possible preconditions for unenforced regulatory strategies.

The Factors of Integrated Reporting Quality: A Meta-Analysis

The research on integrated reporting (IR) grew exponentially during the last decade. The present meta-analysis was motivated by the need to systematize the results of previously published studies employing quantitative methodologies. Therefore, we fill a research gap by discovering significant meta-analytic relations between IR and various economic, organizational, institutional, and country-level variables. Three major areas of research were identified: IR adoption, IR quality, and integrated thinking. The final sample consisted of 91 articles published in top journals between 2013 and 2021. The meta-analytic procedures were applied on bivariate and partial correlations between the three major areas of IR and other constructs such as company attributes, financial performance, corporate governance, social and environmental responsibility, market performance, industry- and country-level characteristics. The results confirmed that corporate governance variables (i.e., director independence, board gender diversity, the existence of a social responsibility committee, and quality of the audit committee) were the most important predictors of IR quality, especially in a voluntary reporting setting. On the other hand, financial reporting quality, financial performance, and firm leverage are not significantly associated with integrated reporting quality. Several implications and recommendations were derived from these meta-analytic results.

Doing Well by Doing Good? Evidence From Luxury Brands’ Social Responsibility Disclosure and Their Financial Performance

Noting the sparse literature on the corporate social responsibility (CSR) commitments of luxury brands, we focus on the constituents of the S&P Global Luxury Index and their non-luxury peers to examine the impact of CSR disclosure on firms’ financial performance. We find that both luxury and non-luxury firms’ accounting performance improves when their CSR disclosure is moderate but worsens if such CSR disclosure is in the extreme. On the other hand, the effect of CSR disclosure on firms’ market performance is either insignificant or negative. These patterns are more pronounced for non-luxury firms than for luxury firms. By highlighting the different impacts of CSR disclosure (reporting or not reporting) and the disclosure level (how much to report) on luxury brands’ performance, this study enriches the understanding on how luxury firms’ fundamental attributes impact their corporate decisions for CSR commitments and disclosure. The results shed new light on the interplay of CSR disclosure, responsible investing, and luxury brand management.