Will Internationalization Promote Corporate Social Responsibility Decoupling in the Home Country?——Based on the Perspective of Institutional Logic

Abstract

Abstract: In the process of "going global" to achieve international expansion and obtain overseas resources,Chinese enterprises are faced with multiple institutional embeddedness and the corresponding institutional pressures.Out of the strategic consideration regarding global legitimacy construction,Chinese enterprises would decouple corporate social responsibility in home country (this means inconsistency between substantive social responsibility practice and social responsibility report) in response to the competing institutional logics between home and host country.Based on the perspective of institutional logic,this paper examines the impact of internationalization on the decoupling of social responsibility in home country.Through the research sample data of China's listed companies from 2011 to 2018,we test the moderating effect of industrial competitive pressure and institutional distance.We conclude that:(1) As the degree of internationalization increases,responsive social responsibility decoupling in home market decreases,while the strategic social responsibility decoupling increases;(2) The industry competition pressure weakens the negative relationship between internationalization degree and responsive social responsibility decoupling of home country,and strengthens the positive relationship between the internationalization degree and the strategic social responsibility decoupling;(3) The negative institutional distance negatively moderate the relationship between internationalization degree and responsive social responsibility decoupling.The research conclusions provide reference for enterprises from emerging economies to respond to the complex institutional pressures and legitimacy requirements through social responsibility strategies.

Key words: internationalization, corporate social responsibility, decoupling, liability of origin, institutional logic

Wang Yimin, Wang Youchun. Will Internationalization Promote Corporate Social Responsibility Decoupling in the Home Country?——Based on the Perspective of Institutional Logic[J]. Management Review, 2022, 34(6): 268-279.

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