What Drives Corporate Social Performance? The Role of Espoused National Cultural Values

Abstract

The study examines the impact of national culture on the four important aspects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) — community (COM), employee (EMP), environment (ENV), and governance (GOV). An empirical analysis is based on socially responsible performance of 8,333 corporations from 59 countries across nine different regions around the globe. The findings suggest that Hofstede’s four dimensions of national culture — power distance (PDI), individualism (IDV), masculinity (MAS), and uncertainty avoidance (UAI) — have significant impacts on socially responsible corporate performance, either positively or negatively, depending on a given aspect of CSR. Overall, the results explain substantial variations in the effects of different cultural typologies on the corporate social performance and are consistently robust across a variety of statistical methods, including ordinary least squares (OLS) regression, regression with robust standard error, censored normal regression (Tobit), and regression with the inclusion of industry-specific variables. The findings of this study establish useful strategic implications of CSR for business corporations and policymakers, as well as guidance for further academic inquiries.