Stakeholder Engagement and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Performance: International Evidence

Abstract

This study examines the impact of stakeholder engagement in the form of controlling shareholders on the corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance of firms using data from 25 countries. The results show that there is a positive relation between state‐controlled ownership and the CSR performance of firms, whereas the other types of controlling ownership have no impact on CSR performance. Further results show that evidence is more pronounced in countries with more stakeholder engagement. Additional analysis indicates that the change of state controlled firms leads to a change in CSR performance, but not vice versa. Taken together, this paper highlights the importance of governmental ownership in shaping firms' corporate social responsibility performance in an international context. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

How Institutional Investors on Boards Impact on Stakeholder Engagement and Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting

“…Additionally, Johnson and Greening (1999) also support the thesis that institutional owners behave like traders, who are more interested in financial and accounting information for financial performance reasons than in CSR performance and information. Thus, institutional investors might prefer strategies that provide higher returns in a short period of time, an opinion consistent with Lopatta et al (2017), who argue that past research finds that investment incentives of institutional investors are different because some of them are more concerned with getting a higher profitability and financial value and others with paying fewer taxes, among others. This may result in less interest in providing CSR information to stakeholders.…”

“…Thus, institutional investors might prefer strategies that provide higher returns in a short period of time, an opinion consistent with Lopatta et al . (), who argue that past research finds that investment incentives of institutional investors are different because some of them are more concerned with getting a higher profitability and financial value and others with paying fewer taxes, among others. This may result in less interest in providing CSR information to stakeholders.…”

Institutional transitions and the role of financial performance in CSR reporting

“…The negative correlation between CSR reporting and leverage has been supported by some empirical evidence (Brown et al, 2012;Lopatta, Jaeschke, & Chen, 2017). Hence, their social performance can be relatively poor, and their propensity to issue a CSR report independently may be very low.…”

Improving CSR performance by hard and soft means: The role of organizational citizenship behaviours and the internalization of CSR standards

“…Although these initiatives may be considered, at the individual level, as 'secondary and mundane' (Boiral & Paillé, 2012, p. 432), they may improve relevant CSR aspects such as sustainability performance at an aggregate and organizational level (Ramus & Killmer, 2007). For instance, based on data collected from top managers in Canadian manufacturing companies, Boiral et al (2015) explored the role of OCB directed toward the environment (OCBEs) in the improvement of environmental performance, one of the more relevant components of CSR performance (Lopatta, Jaeschke, & Chen, 2017). For instance, based on data collected from top managers in Canadian manufacturing companies, Boiral et al (2015) explored the role of OCB directed toward the environment (OCBEs) in the improvement of environmental performance, one of the more relevant components of CSR performance (Lopatta, Jaeschke, & Chen, 2017).…”