Assessing corporate social and financial performance in China

Social Responsibility Journal

Volumn 8, Issue 3, 2012, Pages 389-403

  Luethge, Denise ^a   Han, Helen Guohong ^b  

^a NORTHERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b YOUNGSTOWN STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

China; Corporate social disclosure; Disclosure; Financial performance; Firm size

Indexed keywords

EID: 84864578366     PISSN: 17471117     EISSN: 1758857X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1108/17471111211247965     Document Type: Article

References (89)

1. Bansal, P. and Clelland, I. (2004), "Talking trash: legitimacy, impression management, and the unsystematic risk in the context of the natural environment", Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 47 No. 1, pp. 93-103.
2. Barney, J. (1991), "Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage", Journal of Management, Vol. 17 No. 1, pp. 99-120.
3. Barney, J.B. and Zhang, S. (2009), "The future of Chinese management research: A theory of Chinese management versus a Chinese theory of management", Management and Organization Review, Vol. 5 No. 1, pp. 15-28.
4. Baughn, C., Bodie, N. and McIntosh, J. (2007), "Corporate social and environmental responsibility in Asian countries and other geographical regions", Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, Vol. 14 No. 4, pp. 189-205.
5. Belkaoui, A. and Karpik, P.G. (1989), "Determinants of the corporate decision to disclose social information", Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, Vol. 2 No. 1, pp. 36-51.
6. Bortree, D.S. (2009), "The impact of green initiatives on environmental legitimacy and admiration of the organization", Public Relations Review, Vol. 35 No. 2, pp. 133-5.
7. Campbell, J.L. (2007), "Why should corporations behave in socially responsible ways? An institutional theory of corporate social responsibility", Academy of Management Review, Vol. 32 No. 3, pp. 946-67.
8. Casmir, F.L. (1997), Ethics in Intercultural and International Communication, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, NJ.
9. Chapple, W. and Moon, J. (2005), "Corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Asia: a seven-country study of CSR web site reporting", Business and Society, Vol. 44 No. 4, pp. 415-41.
10. Clarkson, M.B.E. (1995), "A stakeholder framework for analyzing and evaluating corporate social performance", Academy of Management Review, Vol. 20 No. 1, pp. 92-118.
11. Cowen, S.S., Ferreri, L. and Parker, L.D. (1987), "The impact of corporate characteristics on social responsibility disclosure: a typology and frequency-based analysis", Accounting, Organizations and Society, Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 111-22.
12. Davis, K. (1960), "Can business afford to ignore corporate social responsibilities?", California Management Review, Vol. 2 No. 3, pp. 70-6.
13. Davis, K. (1967), "Understanding the social responsibility puzzle", Business Horizons, Vol. 10 No. 4, pp. 45-51.
14. de Villiers, C. and van Staden, C.J. (2006), "Can less environmental disclosure have a legitimizing effect? Evidence from Africa", Organizations and Society, Vol. 31 No. 8, pp. 763-81.
15. Deegan, C. (2002), "The legitimizing effect of social and environmental disclosures - a theoretical foundation", Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, Vol. 15 No. 3, pp. 282-311.
16. Deegan, C. and Gordon, B. (2006), "A study of the environmental disclosure practices of Australian corporations", Accounting and Business Research, Vol. 26 No. 3, pp. 187-99.
17. Deegan, C., Rankin, M. and Tobin, J. (2002), "An examination of the corporate social and environmental disclosures of BHP from 1983-1997: a test of legitimacy theory", Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 15 No. 3, pp. 312-43.
18. Donaldson, T. (1999), "Making stakeholder theory whole", Academy of Management Review, Vol. 24 No. 2, pp. 237-41.
19. Donaldson, T. and Dunfee, T.W. (1994), "Towards a unified conception of business ethics: integrative social contracts theory", Academy of Management Review, Vol. 19 No. 2, pp. 252-84.
20. Donaldson, T. and Dunfee, T.W. (1999), Ties That Bind: A Social Contracts Approach to Business Ethics, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA.
21. Elkington, J. (1999), "Triple bottom-line reporting: looking for balance", Australian CPA, Vol. 69 No. 2, pp. 18-21.
22. Emshoff, J.R. and Freeman, R.E. (1978), "Stakeholder management", working paper, Wharton Applied Research Center, Philadelphia, PA, July.
23. Ewing, M. and Windisch, L. (2007), "Contemporary corporate social responsibility in China: an extension of Confucian philosophy?", Discussion Paper no. 44, Monash University, Melbourne.
24. Frederick, W.C. (2006), Company be Good! The Story of Corporate Social Responsibility, Dogear Publishing, Indianapolis, IN.
25. Freeman, R.E. (1984), "The politics of stakeholder theory: some future directions", Business Ethics Quarterly, Vol. 4 No. 4, pp. 409-22.
26. Freeman, R.E. (1999), "Divergent stakeholder theory", Academy of Management Review, Vol. 24 No. 2, pp. 233-6.
27. Garriga, E. and Melé , D. (2004), "Corporate social responsibility theories: mapping the territory", Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 53 No. 1/2, pp. 51-71.
28. Gerson, B. (2007), "CSR best practices", China Business Review, Vol. 34 No. 3, pp. 20-5.
29. Gill, A. (2008), "Corporate governance as social responsibility: a research agenda", Berkeley Journal of International Law, Vol. 26 No. 2, pp. 452-78.
30. Grant, R.M. (1996), "Toward a knowledge-based theory of the firm", Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 17, Winter, pp. 109-22.
31. Gray, R. (2001), "Thirty years of social accounting, reporting and auditing: what (if anything) have we learnt?", Business Ethics: A European Review, Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 9-15.
32. Gray, R., Kouhy, R. and Lavers, S. (1995a), "Corporate social and environmental reporting: a review of the literature and a longitudinal study of UK disclosure", Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 47-77.
33. Gray, R., Kouhy, R. and Lavers, S. (1995b), "Constructing a research database of social and environmental reporting by UK companies", Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 78-101.
34. Guarnieri, R. and Kao, T. (2008), "Leadership and CSR - a perfect match: how top companies for leaders utilize CSR as a competitive advantage", People and Strategy, Vol. 31 No. 3, pp. 34-41.
35. Guler, I., Guillén, M. and MacPherson, J.M. (2002), "Global competition, institutions and the diffusion of organizational practices: the international spread of the ISO 9000 quality certificates", Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 47, pp. 207-32.
36. Guthrie, J. and Mathews, M.R. (1985), "Corporate social accounting in Australasia", in Preston, L.E. (Ed.), Research in Corporate Social Performance and Policy, Vol. 7, JAI Press, Greenwich, CT, pp. 251-77.
37. Guthrie, J. and Parker, L.D. (1989), "Corporate social reporting: a rebuttal of legitimacy theory", Accounting and Business Research, Vol. 19 No. 76, pp. 143-52.
38. Hackston, D. and Milne, M.J. (1996), "Some determinants of social and environmental disclosures and New Zealand companies", Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 77-108.
39. Hanson, D. and White, R. (2003), "Rhetorics of environmental routinisation in one Australian company's annual reports", Australian Journal of Social Issues, Vol. 38 No. 4, pp. 447-93.
40. Hart, S.L. (1995), "A natural resource-based view of the firm", Academy of Management Review, Vol. 20 No. 4, pp. 986-1014.
41. Heinze, D.C. (1976), "Financial correlates of a social involvement measure", Akron Business and Economic Review, Vol. 7 No. 1, pp. 48-51.
42. Ip, P.K. (2008), "The challenge of developing a business ethics in China", Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 88 No. 1, pp. 211-24.
43. Jensen, M.H. (2006), "Serve the people! Corporate social responsibility (CSR) in China", Discussion Papers no. 6, Asia Research Centre, Copenhagen Business School, Copenhagen, available at: http://chinaworld.cbs.dk/cdp/cdp.asp (accessed 11 October 2010).
44. Jones, T.M. (1995), "Instrumental stakeholder theory: a synthesis of ethics and economics", Academy of Management Review, Vol. 20 No. 2, pp. 404-37.
45. Jones, T.M. and Wicks, A.C. (1999), "Convergent stakeholder theory", Academy of Management Review, Vol. 24 No. 2, pp. 206-21.
46. Joseph, E. (2002), "Promoting corporate social responsibility: is market-based regulation sufficient?", New Economy, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 96-101.
47. Kahn, J. (2003), "A taste of success", Fortune, Vol. 148 No. 4, p. 50.
48. Klein, J. and Dawar, N. (2004), "Corporate social responsibility and consumers' attributions and brand evaluations in a product-harm crisis", International Journal of Research in Marketing, Vol. 21 No. 3, pp. 203-17.
49. Lattemann, C., Fetscherin, M., Alon, I., Li, S. and Schneider, A. (2009), "CSR communication intensity in Chinese and Indian multinational companies", Corporate Governance: An International Review, Vol. 17 No. 4, pp. 426-43.
50. Laufer, W.S. (2006), "Social accounting and corporate greenwashing", Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 43 No. 3, pp. 253-61.
51. Li, S., Park, S.H. and Li, S. (2004), "The great leap forward: the transition from relation-based governance to rule-based governance", Organizational Dynamics, Vol. 33 No. 1, pp. 63-78.
52. Li, Z. (2005), "Lack of corporate social responsibility behind recent China accidents", available at: www.worldwatch.org/node/3859 (accessed 14 January 2009).
53. McGuire, J.B., Sundgren, A. and Schneeweis, T. (1988), "Corporate social responsibility and firm financial performance", Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 31 No. 4, pp. 854-72.
54. McWilliams, A. and Siegel, D. (1999), "Issues in the use of event study methodology: a critical analysis of corporate social responsibility studies", Organizational Research Methods, Vol. 2 No. 4, pp. 340-65.
55. McWilliams, A. and Siegel, D. (2001), "Corporate social responsibility: a theory of the firm perspective", Academy of Management Review, Vol. 26 No. 1, pp. 117-27.
56. Margolis, J.D. and Walsh, J.P. (2003), People and Profits? The Search for a Link between a Company's Social and Financial Performance, Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ.
57. Matten, D. and Moon, J. (2008), "'Implicit' and 'explicit' CSR: a conceptual framework for a comparative understanding of corporate social responsibility", Academy of Management Review, Vol. 33 No. 2, pp. 404-24.
58. Milne, M.J. and Adler, R.W. (1999), "Exploring the reliability of social and environmental disclosures content analysis", Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 12 No. 20, pp. 237-56.
59. Milne, M.J. and Patten, D. (2002), "Securing organizational legitimacy: an experimental decision case examining the impact of environmental disclosures", Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 15 No. 3, pp. 372-405.
60. Mitchell, R.K., Agle, B.R. and Wood, D.J. (1997), "Toward a theory of stakeholder identification and salience: defining the principle of who and what really counts", Academy of Management Review, Vol. 22 No. 4, pp. 853-86.
61. Nakajima, N. (2001), "Green advertising and green public relations as integration propaganda", Bulletin of Science, Technology and Society, Vol. 21 No. 5, pp. 334-48.
62. Ng, L.W. (1985), "Social responsibility disclosures of selected New Zealand companies for 1981, 1982 and 1983", occasional paper no. 54, Massey University, Palmerston North.
63. O'Donovan, G. (2002), "Environmental disclosures in the annual report: extending the applicability and predictive power of legitimacy theory", Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 15 No. 3, pp. 344-71.
64. Ogden, S. and Watson, R. (1999), "Corporate performance and stakeholder management: balancing shareholder and customer interests in the UK privatized water industry", Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 42 No. 5, pp. 526-38.
65. Orlitzky, M., Schmidt, F.L. and Rynes, S.L. (2003), "Corporate social and financial performance: a meta-analysis", Organization Studies, Vol. 24 No. 3, pp. 403-41.
66. Owen, D. and Swift, T. (2001), "Social accounting, reporting and auditing: beyond the rhetoric?", Business Ethics: A European Review, Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 4-8.
67. Patten, D.M. (1991), "Exposure, legitimacy and social disclosure", Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Vol. 10 No. 4, pp. 297-308.
68. Patten, D.M. (1992), "Intra-industry environmental disclosures in response to the Alaskan oil spill: a note on legitimacy theory", Accounting, Organizations and Society, Vol. 17 No. 5, pp. 471-5.
69. Petrik, J. and Quinn, J. (2001), "The challenge of leadership accountability for integrity capacity as a strategic asset", Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 34 No. 3/4, pp. 331-43.
70. Porter, M.E. and Kramer, M.R. (2002), "The competitive advantage of corporate philanthropy", Harvard Business Review, Vol. 80 No. 12, pp. 120-33.
71. Prahalad, C.K. and Hamel, G. (1990), "The core competence of the corporation", Harvard Business Review, Vol. 68 No. 3, pp. 79-91.
72. Roberts, R.W. (1992), "Determinants of corporate social responsibility disclosure: an application of stakeholder theory", Accounting, Organizations and Society, Vol. 17 No. 6, pp. 595-612.
73. Ruf, B.M., Muralidhar, K., Brown, R.M., Janney, J.J. and Paul, K. (2001), "An empirical investigation of the relationship between change in corporate social performance and financial performance: a stakeholder theory perspective", Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 32 No. 1, pp. 143-56.
74. Russo, M.V. and Fouts, P.A. (1997), "A resource-based perspective on corporate environmental performance and profitability", Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 40 No. 3, pp. 534-9.
75. Sen, A. (1999), Development as Freedom, Anchor Books, New York, NY.
76. Shocker, A.D. and Sethi, P.S. (1973), "An approach to incorporating societal preference in developing corporate action strategies", California Management Review, Vol. 15 No. 4, pp. 97-105.
77. Sturdivant, F.D. (1979), "Executive and activist: test of stakeholder management", California Management Review, Vol. 22, pp. 53-9.
78. Su, C., Mitchell, R. and Sirgy, M.J. (2007), "Enabling guanxi management in China: a hierarchical stakeholder model of effective guanxi", Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 71 No. 3, pp. 301-19.
79. Tang, L. and Li, H. (2009), "Corporate social responsibility communication of Chinese and global corporations in China", Public Relations Review, Vol. 35 No. 3, pp. 199-212.
80. Thompson, P. and Zakaria, Z. (2004), "Corporate social responsibility reporting in Malaysia: progress and prospects", Journal of Corporate Citizenship, Vol. 13, Spring, pp. 125-36.
81. Ullman, A.H. (1985), "Data in search of a theory: a critical examination of the relationships among social performance, social disclosure, and economic performance of US firms", Academy of Management Review, Vol. 10 No. 3, pp. 540-57.
82. Unerman, J. (2000), "Methodological Issues: reflections on quantification in corporate social reporting content analysis", Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 13 No. 5, pp. 667-80.
83. Vuontisjarvi, T. (2006), "Corporate social reporting in the European context and human resource disclosures: an analysis of Finnish companies", Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 69 No. 4, pp. 331-54.
84. Waddock, S.A. and Graves, S.B. (1997), "The corporate social performance-financial performance link", Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 18 No. 4, pp. 303-19.
85. Wartick, S.L. and Rude, R.E. (1986), "Issues management: corporate fad or corporate function?", California Management Review, Vol. 29 No. 1, pp. 124-32.
86. Willis, A. (2003), "The role of the Global Reporting Initiative's Sustainability Reporting Guidelines in the social screening of investments", Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 43 No. 3, pp. 233-7.
87. Windsor, D. (2006), "Corporate social responsibility: three key approaches", Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 43 No. 1, pp. 93-114.
88. Wood, D.J. (1991), "Corporate social performance revisited", Academy of Management Review, Vol. 16 No. 4, pp. 691-718.
89. Worth, J. (2007), "Corporate responsibility", New Internationalist, December, pp. 4-7.