AbstractDrawing on institutional and organizational learning theories, this study empirically investigates the imitation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) between firms tied by board interlocks, an important type of corporate social network tie. We propose a positive relationship between the CSR engagement of a focal firm and that of its tied‐to partners and examine how this relationship is moderated by the characteristics of both the focal and tied‐to firms. Using a sample of Chinese‐listed companies, empirical evidence is provided to show that a firm's engagement in symbolic CSR is in a positive relationship with that of its tied‐to partners; this relationship becomes stronger for smaller firms and those facing high uncertainty. Furthermore, when firms are linked to smaller firms, this relationship becomes more prominent. Our findings contribute to the CSR and social network literature, as well as the research on strategic imitation. Finally, implications for business management and government policy are discussed.
AbstractAlthough widely explored in many studies, how and why combined top management team (TMT) and corporate characteristics affect environmental information disclosures (EID) are still lacking clarity. This study uses both fuzzy‐set qualitative comparative analysis and necessary condition analysis to reconcile the inconclusive results concerning the configurational effects of these characteristics on EID and to validate the robustness. From a sample of listed construction engineering corporates during the 2014–2018 period, the high EID level is associated with several complex configurations that contain the core characteristics such as corporate ownership and size, whereas the low EID level is related to the configurations including TMT salary and corporate profitability. The findings support the four tenets of equifinality, asymmetry, complexity, and causal asymmetry in complexity theory. Our results capture the complex non‐linear effects of TMT and corporate characteristics and shed new light on environmental disclosure management for corporate sustainable development.
AbstractThis study investigates the relationship between governors' partisanship and the corporate environmental performance of firms in South Korea. According to political ideology perspective, governors' partisanship closely influences the policy directions and preferences of the provincial administration. Conservative (red) governors tend to induce and encourage competition among firms by deregulating and offering policy benefits to businesses at the provincial level. In response to increased competition in provinces governed by red governors, firms commit to aggressive environmental initiatives as a strategic differentiation tool, in contrast to their behavior in provinces controlled by liberal (blue) governors. Moreover, we examine a contingent role of the provincial Congress. According to the principle of checks and balances, the positive impact of red governors on a firm's environmental performance is stronger when the provincial Congress is controlled by the liberal (blue) party, with its checks and balances on the red governors. This study extends an institutional theory by exploring institutional setting mechanisms at the provincial level.