Influence of National Culture on CSR Practices: Analyzing Industrial Companies in BRICS Countries
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14392/asaa.2024170110Keywords:
National Culture, Corporate Social Responsibility, Sustainability, Institutional Analysis, Institutional TheoryAbstract
Objective: The literature that relates national culture and CSR practices has shown inconclusive results. The study aims to investigate the influence of national culture on the disclosure of Corporate Social Responsibility, in companies based in Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS).
Method: 4,706 observations from 1,159 companies were investigated, for the period from 2009 to 2019. Corporate Social Responsibility disclosure was measured by evaluating 100 items related to environmental and social issues, available from Refinitiv Eikon®. Regarding national culture, the framework proposed by Hofstede (2011) was used. In data analysis, panel data regression was considered.
Results/Discussion: The results show that companies use CSR actions to enlist the support of employees and less powerful individuals. The power distance dimension negatively influences companies to disclose their CSR practices. Country-level individualism positively affects CSR disclosure. The long-term orientation culture implies corporate behavior by reducing CSR disclosure. Finally, the indulgence dimension positively affects social responsibility, indicating that more indulgent companies may prioritize financial aspects over social and environmental aspects.
Contributions: This study offers new evidence that proves the Institutional Theory, by proving that national culture is a factor that shapes the ethical behavior of companies headquartered in emerging economies. The article presents new results for the effect of individualism and long-term orientation dimensions on corporate social responsibility. Previous studies have highlighted the role of formal institutions on CSR, but they have ignored the impact of culture.
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