Current Trends in Research on Social Responsibility in State-Owned Enterprises: A Review of the Literature from 2000 to 2017

Abstract

In recent years, significant changes have produced in the organisational culture of the public sector, bringing accountability and sustainability to the foreground and highlighting the definition of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in public administrations. In this respect, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are well placed to provide an important example to other companies and society and could be of crucial importance in the promotion and development of socially responsible policies. With these considerations in mind, we analyse the state of research into the practice of CSR within SOEs, seeking to identify the main theoretical and empirical contributions made in this respect, that it will be a useful base for studies in the future. Our results show that research attention has been paid to this issue but significantly less than the large body of work carried out in this respect in the private sector. Most of the studies we identify are descriptive, although a growing body of explanatory research is now appearing. Few studies have been made of the impact of CSR practices on users and this constitutes a possible area for research in the future. Our review shows that research into CSR in SOEs is particularly significant in countries where the state has a strong presence in these companies.

Between Soviet Legacy and Corporate Social Responsibility: Emerging Benefit Sharing Frameworks in the Irkutsk Oil Region, Russia

“…The overlap of these two modes established an emerging new benefit sharing regime, in which the state, global standards, and local expectations intertwine to constitute a complex system of arrangements and relationships, in which a company needs to satisfy all three. This provides an important illustration of such regimes, for a private company with strong state ownership legacies still missing in the CSR literature [89].…”

Sustainability, Popular and Integrated Reporting in the Public Sector: A Fad and Fashion Perspective

“…SR in the public sector is considered particularly significant as a way to fulfil increased calls for democratic accountability and enhance the transparency of the actions and results. Public sector research includes studies that focus on the uptake of sustainability reporting [10,[41][42][43], and social reporting disclosure practices in public administration [9] and state-owned companies [44]. These studies generally conclude that SR in public sector organizations clearly focuses on the variety of forms and means of reporting [41,45].…”

“…Popular financial reporting (PFR) can be defined as an alternative accountability mechanism to help non-accounting experts understand traditional financial reports. It is based on the assumption that average citizens find typical governmental financial statements too long, complicated, and confusing [44]. It is mainly diffused in North-America (the US and Canada in particular), and the scholarly interest in the topic has been limited so far (for notable exceptions see [8,29,52,53].…”

Corporate Social Responsibility: Findings from the Vietnamese Paint Industry

“…CSR is achieving essential prominence in the current dynamic global business environment [2]. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development considers CSR as being fundamental for the sustainable economic development and welfare of society [3]. A growing interest in CSR is apparent in both practice and academic study when discussing how business corporations integrate social demands into their operations.…”