Whose Call to Answer: Institutional Complexity and Firms’ CSR Reporting

Luo, Xiaowei; Wang, Danqing; Zhang, Jianjun

doi:10.5465/amj.2014.0847

Cited by 424 publications

(444 citation statements)

References 76 publications

(122 reference statements)

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“…Similar to the extant literature that shows a positive relation between market developments and CSR reporting (Luo et al, 2017), we confirm that market developments significantly increase both firms' propensity to issue a voluntary CSR report and the quality of these CSR reports. Similar to the extant literature that shows a positive relation between market developments and CSR reporting (Luo et al, 2017), we confirm that market developments significantly increase both firms' propensity to issue a voluntary CSR report and the quality of these CSR reports.…”

Section: Does Financial Performance Play a Buffer Role In Mandatorysupporting

confidence: 87%

“…We use Ranking CSR Ratings (RKS) as our measure of the quality of CSR reports (Luo et al, 2017;Marquis & Qian, 2014). We collected independently published CSR reports from www.cninfo.com.cn; other firm-level data were collected from the CSMAR database.…”

Section: Data and Samplementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Companies may issue a standalone CSR report due to pressures from peer companies (Cai, Dhaliwal, Kim, & Pan, 2014); we then control for mimetic pressure and measure it with a dummy variable (board interlocks), which is equal to 1 if a firm had at least one board member serving on the board of any firm that issued a standalone CSR report in the previous year, 0 otherwise (Luo et al, 2017).…”

Section: Control Variablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Slack resource theory (SRT) argues that better financial performance provides firms with more available slack resources and more opportunities for social investments (Waddock & Graves, 1997). However, further research on strategic CSR activities has found that firms may issue CSR reports in response to institutional pressures (Campbell, 2007;Contrafatto, 2014;Luo, Wang, & Zhang, 2017;Nikolaeva & Bicho, 2011;Ntim & Soobaroyen, 2013;Reid & Toffel, 2009), and few studies have investigated the shifting role of financial performance in CSR reporting in this context. However, further research on strategic CSR activities has found that firms may issue CSR reports in response to institutional pressures (Campbell, 2007;Contrafatto, 2014;Luo, Wang, & Zhang, 2017;Nikolaeva & Bicho, 2011;Ntim & Soobaroyen, 2013;Reid & Toffel, 2009), and few studies have investigated the shifting role of financial performance in CSR reporting in this context.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Institutional transitions and the role of financial performance in CSR reporting

Sun

Zhao

Cho

2018

Corp Soc Responsibility Env

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While many extant studies focus on the relation between financial performance and corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting, less attention has been given to the shifting role of financial performance in CSR reporting in a changing institutional environment. The objective of this study is to investigate whether, why, and how institutional transitions affect the role of financial performance in CSR reporting. Using samples of A-share listed companies from 2008 to 2015, we separately examine the impacts of institutional transitions on firms' propensity to issue standalone CSR reports, the quality of voluntary CSR reports, and the quality of mandatory CSR reports. We find that financial performance buffers against external pressures brought by institutional transitions rather than only serving as a slack resource. By highlighting the buffer role of financial performance, our study provides deeper insights on the relation between financial performance and CSR reporting and contributes to extant institutional research on CSR reporting.

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Section: Does Financial Performance Play a Buffer Role In Mandatorysupporting

confidence: 87%

Section: Data and Samplementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Control Variablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Institutional transitions and the role of financial performance in CSR reporting

Sun

Zhao

Cho

2018

Corp Soc Responsibility Env

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“…awareness of the quality and content of listed firms' overall social reporting activities (Marquis and Qian, 2014;Hung et al, 2015;Lau et al, 2016;and Luo et al, 2016).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of board gender and foreign ownership in the CSR performance of Chinese listed firms

McGuinness

Vieito

Wang

2017

Journal of Corporate Finance

688

473

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China's recent promotion of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has coincided with a marked increase in the number of Chinese listed firms attracting female board members and foreign equity investors. Using Rankins' (RKS) ratings over the 2009 to 2013 period, we show that greater gender balance in top-management supports stronger CSR performance. This finding broadens gender-based accounts emphasizing social networks (Westphal and Milton, 2000), Critical Mass Theory (Kramer et al., 2006;Bear et al., 2010;and Soares et al., 2011) and team dynamics (Woolley et al., 2010;and Hoogendoorn et al., 2013). Findings also reveal stronger CSR performance in firms with a female CEO. Female leadership thus appears to be just as important as gender mix in driving CSR change.CSR ratings are also increasing in foreign ownership levels. We examine whether a political-networking motivation underlies foreign investment (Du and Girma, 2010;Liu et al., 2014a;Lin et al., 2015;and Jiang and Kim, 2015). We argue that qualified foreign institutional investors (QFIIs) deploy socialengagement in non-SOEs to build competitive advantage. But in SOEs, where strong political networks already exist, QFIIs have less incentive to boost CSR ratings. However, results indicate little difference in the social ratings of QFII-invested SOEs and non-SOEs.Additionally, we confirm the Barnea and Rubin (2010) contention of an inversion in social ratings at entrenched managerial ownership levels. Non-linear rating effects also emerge in relation to state ownership (Li et al., 2013). Finally, CSR performance exhibits positive (negative) relation with a listed entity's size and age (leverage and lagged return-on-equity) but virtually no connection with independent board representation.

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How institutional pressures on green innovation are perceived by firms? The role of board social ties

Zou,

Zhang,

2024

Bus Strat Dev

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Institutional pressures are major driving forces for firms' green innovation. However, there is significant heterogeneity in firms' responses to these forces due to the complex information environment within the institutional field. Social ties are known to provide information and resources. This study explores how board social ties, including business and political ties, shape firms' responsiveness to formal and informal institutional forces related to green innovation. Using a dataset from Chinese listed companies in the manufacturing sector, we propose that firms' business ties strengthen the effects of various institutional pressures on green innovation. On the other hand, political ties strengthen the impact of environmental regulation on green innovation but weaken the influence of imitative pressure on green innovation. This suggests that political ties can be a double‐edged sword in firms' responses to institutional pressures. This research contributes to institutional theory and social capital theory, offering implications for green innovation strategies.

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Whose Call to Answer: Institutional Complexity and Firms’ CSR Reporting

Cited by 424 publications

References 76 publications

Institutional transitions and the role of financial performance in CSR reporting

Institutional transitions and the role of financial performance in CSR reporting

The role of board gender and foreign ownership in the CSR performance of Chinese listed firms

How institutional pressures on green innovation are perceived by firms? The role of board social ties

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