No abstract

This case study examines why stand-alone Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reporting has been initiated in a Chinese state-owned enterprise (SOE). Chinese SOEs have been pioneering CSR reporting since the mid-2000s and extant literature interprets its development as no more than a consequence of government interventions. However, there is a dearth of qualitative evidence illuminating the subtle interrelationships between the global, national and internal organisational dynamics mediating CSR reporting initiative of Chinese SOEs within the authoritarian state. To fill this gap, we provide a nuanced multi-level institutional analysis of the drivers underlying the initiation of CSR reporting within the case examined.

This study examines the effect of environmental and social (ES) activities on global banking stability in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a sample of 244 commercial banks across 52 countries from 2002 to 2020, we provide evidence that during the global health crisis, banks with higher levels of ES activities are more financially stable (i.e. lower credit and liquidity risk exposures). Drawing on social capital and stakeholder theories, we find that ES activities increase firm-level social capital and establish a stakeholder-centred culture within a bank, strengthening social trust and public confidence in the bank's risk oversight. Accordingly, ES activities constrain excessive and aggressive bank risk-taking during turbulent times when short-termism prevails. Our additional analysis reveals that investors value such beneficial effects of ES activities. The findings offer new insights into the increasingly significant roles of social capital creation and stakeholder-centred culture in maintaining banks' financial stability.

Former CEOs who stay on the board as Chairmen (i.e., Chair-Former-CEO or CFCEO) often play a vital role in monitoring and advising the incumbent CEOs. However, their influence on firm performance remains under-investigated. This paper aims to offer new insights into the impact that such a role can have by examining corporate investment in social and environmental responsibility. It examines the effect of CFCEOs on the firm’s social and environmental responsibility of 1,263 S&P1500 firms from 2002 to 2021. We find that firms with the presence of a CFCEO exhibit superior social and environmental performance. This finding suggests that CFCEOs can encourage long-term value creation for a broader range of stakeholders by building social capital and public trust. Additional analyses reveal that the positive association between the CFCEO and firms’ social and environmental performance was more pronounced during the COVID-19 pandemic than during the global financial crisis of 2007-9.