Social Responsibility Literature Research Articles

The Influence of Social Media Corporate Social Responsibility Communication on Consumer– Brand Identification and Electronic Word of Mouth in the Banking Sector: The Moderating Role of User-Generated Content

This study contributes to both marketing and corporate social responsibility (CSR) literature by exploring consumer perceptions of CSR in the banking sector. The findings reveal that CSR efforts on social media help build consumer–brand identification (C-B identification) and promote positive electronic word of mouth (eWOM). Both perceived CSR initiatives and C-B identification have a direct, positive effect on eWOM. Additionally, user-generated content enhances the effect of CSR initiatives on eWOM. For policymakers, these findings highlight the impact of engaging CSR communication on social media. Effective CSR strategies can strengthen brand identity and build positive consumer engagement, supporting loyalty and advocacy. This study expands knowledge on CSR communication within the banking sector and offers practical insights into social media strategies.

Do green banking practices improve the sustainability performance of banking institutions? The mediating role of green finance

PurposeThis study aims to examine the mediating role of green finance in the relationship between green banking practices and the sustainability performance of banking institutions in developing economies.Design/methodology/approachThe authors performed an empirical investigation by applying the “partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM)” based on a representative sample of 414 bank employees working in the National Capital Region, India.FindingsThe study’s outcome confirms that employee, top-management, operation and policy related practices substantially influence green finance and banks’ sustainability performance. On the contrary, customer related practices insignificantly influence banks’ sustainability performance. Further, green finance substantially influences the sustainability performance of banking institutions.Practical implicationsThis study shed light on green banking practices that can assist in achieving the vision of the “Clean India Mission” of the Indian government. In addition, it encourages policymakers and bank managers to fulfill their social responsibility by engaging employees and customers in cleaner operations to promote banks’ sustainability performance.Originality/valueThis is ground-breaking research that enriches the understanding of green banking practices and green finance by providing a novel theoretical framework concerning the sustainability performance of banking institutions. Theoretically, this paper also broadens the scope of corporate social responsibility literature by applying the resource-based view theory in finance and banking.

The impact of financial analysts’ spirituality on their socially responsible investing decisions: a mediating role of social consciousness

PurposeThis paper aims to contribute to the social aspect of corporate social responsibility literature by examining the influence of financial analysts’ spirituality on their socially responsible investing (SRI) decisions relating to a profitable organization, which is alleged by the media to employ children as laborers in hazardous works in Pakistan. This study also investigates whether analysts’ social consciousness mediates between their spirituality and investing decisions.Design/methodology/approachA scenario-based survey was administered to 124 financial analysts at leading financial institutions in Pakistan. Data were analyzed using regression, analysis of variance and mediation analysis on SPSS 26.FindingsThe findings demonstrate that financial analysts’ spirituality negatively influences their SRI decisions to invest in a profitable organization, which is alleged to employ children in hazardous work that may harm them physically and psychologically. The findings also express that analysts’ social consciousness intervenes in the association between analysts’ spirituality and SRI decisions.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study may interest regulators, multinational firms and researchers in recognizing the importance of individuals’ values for increasing socially responsible investments and addressing social issues such as the exploitation of children.Social implicationsThis study encourages firms to recognize the importance of spiritual and socially conscious corporate conviction while designing strategies and policies. For example, the financial industry may incorporate fundamental personal values such as stewardship, dignity and fairness into its investment plans.Originality/valueThis study provides rigorous insights and contributes to contemporary studies by providing empirical evidence that individuals’ intrinsic values and consciousness drive their judgments.

Generous to a fault: Differential impact of CSR investments on financial gains in Indian market multinationals

To date, the extant Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) literature has overlooked the performance consequences of different forms of CSR investments made by Emerging Market Multinational Corporations (EMNCs). Addressing this knowledge gap, and drawing on legitimacy theory, we examine the impact of external CSR investments (e.g., social and community philanthropic support activities) and internal CSR investments (e.g., working conditions, employee rights and equal employment opportunities) on financial performance of EMNCs, while also accounting for the moderating effects of internationalization location choices. We test our hypotheses on a panel consisting of 1513 unique Indian EMNCs, in the 2014–2019 time-period. On applying various estimation techniques, the findings reveal that both external and internal CSR investments are positively associated with financial performance of EMNCs, while the destination location of foreign investments and home-host geographic and institutional distance moderate these relationships. This study offers new empirical evidence on the financial implications of different types of CSR investments available to EMNCs and advances legitimacy theory by expanding its dimensional and contextual scope.

Skeletons in the closet: How and when internal and external corporate social responsibility affect employees' internal whistleblowing behaviors

AbstractThe micro‐level corporate social responsibility (CSR) literature has underscored the economic benefits of an organization's CSR investments, such as bolstering employees' organizational commitment and improving work performance. Yet, research on the potential influence of CSR in fostering socially oriented outcomes among employees has been rather scarce. This study aims to investigate the influence of CSR on employees' internal whistleblowing behaviors and the underlying mechanisms. A three‐time‐point survey was distributed across the service, manufacturing, construction, and financial insurance industries in Chinese enterprises. The findings reveal that both internal and external CSR positively impact employees' internal whistleblowing behaviors through the mediating role of moral courage, with internal CSR demonstrating a stronger effect. Organizational loyalty positively moderates the mediating role of moral courage in the relationship between internal CSR/external CSR and internal whistleblowing behaviors. Theoretically, this study presents a pioneering endeavor in establishing the link between CSR and employees' internal whistleblowing behaviors, underscoring the significant role that employees' perceptions of CSR play in enhancing societal well‐being and ethical governance. Besides contributing to the micro‐level CSR literature, this study also provides practical insights for organizations seeking to leverage CSR as a tool for promoting employees' ethical conduct.

How Corporate Social (Ir)Responsibility Influences Employees’ Private Prosocial Behavior: An Experimental Study

The micro-level corporate social responsibility (CSR) literature has broadly demonstrated the effects of CSR on employees’ behavior but has mostly been limited to employees’ behavior within the work domain. This business-centered focus overlooks the potential of organizations to change employees’ private social and environmental behavior and thus to address grand societal challenges. Based on the social psychology literature on moral consistency and moral balancing, we conduct three experiments to investigate whether employees’ private prosocial behavior is consistent with their organization’s corporate social (ir)responsibility or whether employees aim to balance their private prosocial behavior, e.g., by compensating for their organization’s CSR activities with a reduced willingness to contribute outside the work domain. Our results provide support for a consistency effect such that employers’ environmental CSR activities increase employees’ donations and willingness to volunteer outside work. Environmental corporate social irresponsibility activities, on the contrary, reduce employees’ private donations and willingness to volunteer. We further find that the positive effects of environmental CSR are partly explained by the strengthening of employees’ environmental self-identity. Our findings highlight that organizational activities have consequences for employees’ moral behavior outside the work domain and thus have important implications for research and practice.

The New Wave of CSR-Related Mainstream Accounting Research: On the Performative Effects of Literature Reviews

ABSTRACT This commentary/reflection offers a critical analysis of four articles presenting literature reviews concerning Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) research in accounting published in North American-based or inspired accounting research journals and of the research on which they focus. This analysis is presented against the backdrop of [Gond, J.P., S. Mena, and S. Mosonyi. 2023. The performativity of literature reviewing: Constituting the corporate social responsibility literature through re-presentation and intervention. Organizational Research Methods 26, no. 2: 195–228] conceptualisation of the performative effects of literature reviews, examinations of the recent resurgence of CSR research in top-tier North American-based accounting journals offered by well-established social and environmental accounting (SEA) researchers, as well as in light of some of the many reviews on the same or similar lines of research. Whilst previous examinations of such resurgence focused on regular articles, this reflection focuses on literature reviews, which I consider a negative development in view of what they represent in terms of the self-referencing behaviour already present in the literature they review. This commentary serves the purpose of cautioning those interested in becoming acquainted with accounting research on CSR-related topics that the reviews examined should not be used as an entry point, given that they offer a rather incomplete picture of such research. Rather, they should only be used after having acquired a global view of CSR-related literature.

Tax Avoidance and Corporate Social Responsibility: A Bibliometric Review and Future Agenda

This review explores the intellectual structure, research trends, and nexus within tax avoidance (TA) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) literature using the bibliometric research approach. Seventy-five peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2003 and 2022 in 56 journals were identified for the final analysis from Scopus databases. The articles were analysed and visualised with VOSviewer based on the keyword occurrence, authors, countries, and journal distribution. Even though 75 articles were identified on the interplay between CSR and tax avoidance, over sixty percent of papers were published during the last four years from only five countries. It indicates that combined CSR and tax avoidance research is emerging and has recently become a critical concern of scholarly investigation. Although the number of publications is increasing, author and country network analyses do not show a strong connection among authors and countries of publications. While the publications have been dispersed within a broader range of sources, only five journals are dominant, with three or more articles. Considering co-occurrence analysis, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and Tax avoidance are the frequently occurring terms within the publications, and they have been explored with other related areas such as corporate responsibility and sustainability, tax evasion, business ethics, corporate governance, tax havens, and earning management. Although keyword analysis shows that CSR and tax avoidance literature have been extensively studied during the past decade, this area of research is still in its infancy. Hence, more empirical research is needed from both developed and developing countries. Accordingly, this study provides exciting findings on the knowledge structures and patterns of tax avoidance and CSR research and valuable insights for future studies.

I can do good even when my supervisor is bad: Abusive supervision and employee socially responsible behaviour

AbstractExisting research has convincingly demonstrated the deleterious impact of abusive supervision within the boundaries of the organization. However, we ask, can the harmful consequences of abusive supervision extend beyond organizational boundaries, and in particular, impact social good creation? To answer this crucial question, the present study investigates whether, how, and when abusive supervision affects employees' socially responsible behaviour (SRB). We build on ego depletion theory, and its theoretical extension, the integrative self‐control theory, to develop and test a multi‐level model that advances our understanding of the psychological mechanisms through, and boundary conditions under which abusive supervision affects employee SRB. Findings from a weekly diary study across 12 weeks support: (1) the role of ego depletion as a core psychological process that underlies the negative impact of weekly abusive supervision on employees' SRB and (2) the role of both trait abusive supervision and weekly impulse control demands as critical boundary conditions that determine whether weekly abusive supervision impacts SRB. These findings have important implications for the abusive supervision and social responsibility literatures, advancing our understanding of what organizations can do to alleviate the detrimental consequences of abusive supervision for social good creation.

Mandatory CSR disclosure, institutional ownership and firm value: Evidence from China

AbstractThis study aims to contribute to the relevant accounting, corporate governance, and corporate social responsibility (CSR) literature by examining the value relevance of mandatory CSR disclosures in China. Using a difference‐in‐differences (DID) research design and a sample based on propensity score matching (PSM) over the period from 2003 to 2020, our findings suggest that mandatory CSR disclosures are negatively associated with firm' values. We also find that firms with a high level of institutional ownership and leverage experience a relatively lower drop in firms' values as a result of the mandatory CSR disclosures. These findings remain robust to alternative sampling design, use of market to book value as an alternative measure of firms' market‐based performance, and a parallel test to validate our DID analysis. Our findings have useful implications for managers, regulators, policy makers and other stakeholders.

Corporate Social Responsibility and Capital Structure

Objective: We analyze the effects of capital structure influence on corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance, represented by the ESG score. Prior studies have investigated distinct factors to settle CSR adoption. Nonetheless, corporate social responsibility literature has not yet achieved common consent. Method: This study uses a quantitative research approach. We used a sample of listed companies from the United States of America, China, Japan, Germany, India, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Brazil, and Canada. Three estimators were applied in the regression model, OLS pooled, IV 2SLS, and GMM 2SLS. Results: Our findings indicate a positive and significant relationship between Capital Structure and CSR. Furthermore, we understand that the positive and statistically significant findings in the relationship between market value and corporate social responsibility index are because corporate social responsibility has an intangible asset in its constitution: the corporate reputation. Therefore, these results converge into accepting these practices, which generate a firm’s value, justifying the positive and significant association. Finally, it is essential to highlight that the variations found between countries, especially companies from nations with higher GDP, need a more substantial capital structure than smaller ones to obtain a positive CSR index. Contributions: The paper argues that the capital structure can be introduced related to adopting corporate social responsibility. It is worth noting that this research aims not to provide an optimal set of factors that affect corporate social responsibility practices but to highlight the intangible effect of corporate reputation generated by the capital structure that other studies can investigate.

Can Welfare Economics Justify Corporate Philanthropy? Proposing the Philanthropy Multiplier as a Metric for Evaluating Corporate Philanthropic Expenditures

Much business ethics and corporate social responsibility literature suggests, implicitly or explicitly, that firms ought to engage in activities that can be characterized as philanthropy, namely, expending resources beyond what is required by law and market norms to promote others’ welfare at the expense of firm profits. However, this literature has struggled to provide a normative framework for evaluating corporate philanthropy, although scholars have noted that such expenditures can potentially remedy market failures and provide public goods more efficiently. I articulate two specific rationales that can justify corporate philanthropy based on considerations of welfare economics: 1) firms making strategic but high-risk investments in activities that are likely to generate positive externalities even if they prove unprofitable and 2) firms possessing a strong comparative advantage in their ability to address a social problem at lower social cost. Moreover, these rationales can be evaluated by a concept I develop called the philanthropy multiplier, indicating the ratio of net positive externalities to net costs. I suggest that firms consider publicizing their philanthropy multipliers, and I discuss theoretical and practical implications.

University social responsibility: bibliometric analysis and research trends

PurposeThis article develops a review of the university social responsibility literature to identify the most influential countries, authors, journals, and institutions, their structure, and research lines.Design/methodology/approachThe review was carried out from a bibliometric and network analysis of documents published in the Web of Science database.FindingsIn total, 192 documents were found that were scientifically mapped in this field. From the network analysis, four research perspectives were identified: strategic impact management policy, user and its stakeholders, service-learning and its contribution to user, and theories, approaches, and strategies of University Social Responsibility (USR). Finally, the agenda for future research are presented.Originality/valueThe present work carries out a bibliometric and network analysis that seeks to contribute to the literature on USR, identifying its current perspectives and future lines of research.

The reflection of socially responsible HRM on sustainability in companies located in Egypt

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to introduce the concept of socially responsible human resource management (SRHRM) and examine the reflection of SRHRM on sustainable development (SD) in Egyptian companies.Design/methodology/approachThe study data was collected using a quantitative method to examine and test the relationship between the two variables. An empirical study was conducted between 2022 and 2023 on 150 samples of male and female employees from 18 companies located in Egypt working in castings and car batteries.FindingsThe study found that, in general, SRHRM has a significant impact on organizational sustainability. This contribution is also beneficial for general HRM and corporate social responsibility (CSR) literature as it stresses the importance of its relations to SD. By critically analyzing contemporary SRHRM literature, this study further demonstrates how studies with utilitarian approaches have dominated earlier research. By recognizing the necessity for process-oriented studies and the significance of critical scholarship within the field of SRHRM and its connections to the SD, the researcher thereby creates a research agenda for future studies.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings only apply to the sample that has participated in this study and to the Egyptian companies. A longitudinal quantitative evaluation of the SRHRM approaches and dimensions and their impact on the SD strategies of Egyptian companies would be recommended in terms of further research study, highlighting the role of SRHRM and its impact on achieving companies' CSR strategies.Practical implicationsThe study's findings are helpful for firms looking to implement SR-HRM to enhance some employees' performance and promote organisational sustainability. In Egypt, there is a dire need for responsible leadership in the public and private sectors, which is crucial in the market and industry sectors. In addition to updating all policies, urge the younger generation to participate in them. For example, new hires to the company must demonstrate that they have engaged in volunteer work as part of their social obligation to the community, and this is required for recruitment.Social implicationsFurthermore, refreshing all the policy encourage the young generation working or before working to take part in these policy, such as newcomers to the companies have to show that they have conducted some social responsibility towards their community as voluntary work. A study conducted by Cristina del-Castillo et al. (2022) confirmed that regarding the performance of different factors, the results show that the organizations under study are investing too much effort in improving CSR factors that are less relevant to achieving positive legitimacy assessments. On the one hand, resources destined to improve policies related to health, security and social benefits and those regarding the improvement of the relationship paths between managers and employees are excessive considering the relevance that they represent compared to the rest of the CSR policies. According to Hazzi and Maldaon (2023), stakeholders (including the general public and policymakers) might make an informed choice about how much organizations with CSR could safeguard their well-being if they had access to transparent CSR information. Talking about the sustainability behaviour of SRHRM as crucial for embedding sustainability in the business, a study by Abutaleb et al. (2021) evidence that subjective norms and attitudes, followed by perceived behavioural control and personal norms had the greatest influence on intentions towards behavioural HR. Attitudes towards sustainability practices were significantly influenced by economic advantages and sustainability. A good model fit was demonstrated by measurement and structural models (Abutaleb et al., 2021).Originality/valueThis paper is unique in that it participates in presenting the concept of the social responsibility of HRM as an intervention and approach for SD. It also participates in presenting unique findings related to Egyptian companies. There is a scarcity of literature related to research and studies on SRHRM in Egypt.

Student-Centered Innovation Project as University Social Responsibility (USR)

Abstract Most university social responsibility (USR) literature and practice involves students as participants. However, students can also be initiators, participants and implementers of programs under USR. This study discusses the central role played by students in the USR project in Kampung Warna-Warni Jodipan, or the Jodipan Colorful Village, by the Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang, in Malang city, Indonesia. This project represents two innovations: (1) teaching innovation, where the lecturer becomes the center, and (2) the innovative project, where the student becomes the center. Under the student-centered USR project, students research the community, generate the idea, initiate and design the project, write proposals, connect the stakeholders and implement the project together with the community. By giving ‘space’ for student creativity rather than just involving them as participants, this project positioned students as the connector and center of the quadruple stakeholder collaboration between the university, business, government and community.

The Impact of Perceived CSR on Employees’ Pro-Environmental Behaviors: The Mediating Effects of Environmental Consciousness and Environmental Commitment

Employees’ pro-environmental behaviors contribute to environmental sustainability. Drawing on social exchange theory, this research extends corporate social responsibility (CSR) literature by investigating the positive effect of perceived CSR on employees’ pro-environmental behaviors and exploring the mediating mechanisms of environmental consciousness and environmental commitment between perceived CSR and employees’ pro-environmental behaviors. Survey data were collected from 301 employees working in the textile manufacturing industry of Pakistan. The findings of this study demonstrate a positive direct impact of perceived CSR on pro-environmental behaviors. Moreover, environmental consciousness and environmental commitment mediated this relationship. Taken together, this study indicates that perceived CSR has three paths to impact employee pro-environmental behavior: direct effect, indirect effect via environmental consciousness, and indirect effect via environmental commitment. The contributions of this study include supporting social exchange theory and presenting pioneering evidence of environmental consciousness and environmental commitment mediating processes between perceived CSR and pro-environmental behaviors. This paper provides directions for future research and suggests practical implications for organizations.

The impact of employee-oriented CSR on quality of life: Evidence from the hospitality industry

This paper builds on recent corporate social responsibility (CSR) literature and on stakeholder theory. Our aim is to analyze the direct and indirect effects of employee-oriented CSR on hotel workers' quality of life (QoL). Based on survey collected from a sample of hotel employees in the Canary Islands (Spain), relationships were empirically examined through partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). This study confirms that workers' perceptions of employee-oriented CSR positively and directly enhance their QoL. We found indirect positive effects through several mediators. Our results highlight the key role of working conditions, task significance, turnover intentions, and intrinsic quality on the relationship between employee-oriented CSR and QoL. Moreover, hotel service quality level is an antecedent of employee-oriented CSR. These findings advance the literature on CSR and reveal important managerial implications, especially in a post-pandemic scenario in which workers’ overall QoL is essential to ensure no one is left behind.

Financial analysts’ personal values, perceived behavioural risk and investment decisions in evaluating CSR

PurposeThis paper aims to contribute to the corporate social responsibility (CSR) literature by providing holistic insights into financial analysts’ personal values, perceived behavioural risk and investment decisions relating to the social aspects of CSR. Specifically, this paper examines whether analysts’ personal values, such as religiosity, spirituality and social consciousness, influence their investment decisions relating to a highly profitable firm that is alleged of exploiting labour rights. This study also examines the mediating role of analysts’ perceived behavioural risk between personal values and investment decisions.Design/methodology/approachData were collected, using a scenario-based survey, from 145 financial analysts at both public and private companies in Pakistan.FindingsThe results show that analysts’ values, including religiosity, spirituality and social consciousness, have a significant negative impact on their investment decisions. The results also demonstrate that perceived behavioural risk mediates the relationship between these values and investment decisions.Practical implicationsThis study has implications for the globalised business world, regulators and researchers for incorporating personal and ethical values into risk and investment decision-making.Originality/valueThis study establishes the importance of analysts’ personal values in risky investment decision-making.

Corporate social responsibility practices impact on company performance across Bulgarian SMEs in the automotive sector

The paper tries to explain the relationship between CSR practices and the firm performance across automotive SMEs in Bulgaria. The paper suggests that development and implementation of CSR measures is critical for the success of the SMEs across the emerging automotive sector in this EU country. The study aims at broadening knowledge at Corporate Social Responsibility literature in the context of SMEs business domain. The study represents quantitative analysis on CSR measures based on the ESG goals set by the United Nations. The collected data in the paper are secondary and it has been collected from the Bulgarian Statistical Institute, the Union of the Automobile Industry in Bulgaria and individual companies’ websites. Additional data have been gathered from the Automotive SMEs’ annual reports of the companies as well. The paper empirical data findings for the period 2018-2020 show that Automotive SMEs have been adopting westernized best practices on CSR, which positively affect their performance and prosperity.

Competition, Market Institutions, and CSR Specialization

Does competition foster or stifle corporate social responsibility (CSR)? The current corporate social responsibility (CSR) literature featuring this debate mainly centers on the two opposing mechanisms of competition with respect to CSR—declining resources available for CSR and increasing strategic incentives for differentiation from CSR. Moreover, this debate also largely rests on a dichotomous assumption that firms only increase or decrease CSR under competitive pressure. Relaxing this assumption, in this study, we develop a finer-grained concept—CSR specialization—to describe to what extent a firm is focused on a selective few CSR dimensions under competition. Further, we posit that the two opposing mechanisms coexist and interact, leading to an inverted U-shaped relationship between competition and CSR specialization. We further predict that market institutions, namely, market openness and capitalism type moderate this relationship through strengthening the differentiation mechanism. Employing Multilevel Linear Modeling (MLM) estimation technique on a global dataset that includes 1,586 firms in the year 2002 to 2017, our findings support our hypotheses with robustness tests. Our study points to reconciling the debate in firms’ CSR response in strategic management literature and makes meaningful contributions CSR literature.