How (much) does country matter to CSR? A variance decomposition study

• 成果类型: Article; Early Access
• 署名作者: Sauerwald, Steve; Skandera, David J.; Wang, Tang
• 署名单位: University of Houston; University of Houston System; University of Houston; Texas Christian University; State University System of Florida; University of South Florida
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS STUDIES
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2506
• DOI: 10.1057/s41267-026-00853-y
• 发表日期: 2026
• 关键词: corporate social-responsibility; firm; performance; industry; collectivism; VALUES

摘要

Country-level influences matter for CSR performance. While prior studies have uncovered what individual country-level variables predict firms' CSR performance, we know little about how much of the variance in CSR performance is explained by systematic influences at the country level. We conduct an abductive variance decomposition study to estimate the proportion of CSR variance explained at the country level, relative to the firm, industry, and regional levels, and how cultural environments in the form of collectivism alter the relative importance of country-level influences. A panel covering 21,766 observations from 2324 firms across 59 countries between 2003 and 2022 reveals that country effects explain about 10% of CSR performance variation across firms, exceeding the explanatory power of industry and regional effects. Country effects are stronger in cultural environments characterized by low institutional collectivism and high in-group collectivism. This article explores how country-level factors influence the corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance of multinational enterprises. While previous research has focused on individual country-level factors, this study aims to understand the combined impact of these factors on CSR performance. This article uses data from 21,766 observations of 2324 firms across 59 countries from 2003 to 2022. The data were collected from LSEG's ESG database, which provides detailed information on firms' CSR efforts, and cultural data were obtained from the GLOBE project. The researchers employed a variance decomposition approach to determine how much of the CSR performance variance is explained at different levels, such as firm, industry, region, and country. The study also considers the role of collectivism, a cultural trait that emphasizes group cohesion and collective interests, in moderating the impact of country-level influences on CSR performance. The results indicate that country-level factors explain about 10% of CSR performance variance, more than industry or regional factors. In countries with high institutional collectivism, country-level factors explain only about 3% of the variance, while in countries with high in-group collectivism, they explain over 13%. This suggests that cultural factors like collectivism can either amplify or diminish the impact of country-level influences on CSR performance. The study concludes that understanding the cultural context is crucial for multinational enterprises when deciding whether to standardize or localize their CSR strategies. The findings highlight the importance of considering country-level and cultural factors in international CSR research.This text was initially drafted using artificial intelligence, then reviewed by the author(s) to ensure accuracy. Les influences au niveau du pays jouent un r & ocirc;le important pour la performance en mati & egrave;re de RSE. Bien que des recherches ant & eacute;rieures aient identifi & eacute; des variables sp & eacute;cifiques au niveau du pays qui pr & eacute;disent la performance en RSE des entreprises, nous savons peu de choses sur la part de la variance de la performance en RSE qui peut & ecirc;tre expliqu & eacute;e par des influences syst & eacute;matiques au niveau du pays. Nous menons une recherche abductive de d & eacute;composition de la variance afin d'estimer la proportion de la variance de la RSE expliqu & eacute;e au niveau du pays, par rapport aux niveaux de l'entreprise, de l'industrie et de la r & eacute;gion, ainsi que la mani & egrave;re dont les environnements culturels, sous la forme du collectivisme, modifient l'importance relative des influences au niveau du pays. Une analyse d'un panel de donn & eacute;es couvrant 21766 observations provenant de 2324 entreprises r & eacute;parties dans 59 pays sur la p & eacute;riode 2003-2022 r & eacute;v & egrave;le que les effets li & eacute;s au pays expliquent environ 10 % de la variation de la performance en RSE entre les entreprises, d & eacute;passant ainsi le pouvoir explicatif des effets li & eacute;s & agrave; l'industrie et & agrave; la r & eacute;gion. Les effets li & eacute;s au pays sont plus marqu & eacute;s dans les environnements culturels caract & eacute;ris & eacute;s par un faible collectivisme institutionnel et un collectivisme intra-groupe & eacute;lev & eacute; Las influencias a nivel pa & iacute;s son importantes para el desempe & ntilde;o de la RSC (Responsabilidad Social Corporativa). Aunque estudios previos han identificado qu & eacute; variables espec & iacute;ficas a nivel pa & iacute;s predicen el desempe & ntilde;o de la RSC de las empresas, se sabe poco sobre qu & eacute; proporci & oacute;n de la varianza en dicho desempe & ntilde;o se explica por influencias sistem & aacute;ticas a nivel pa & iacute;s. Realizamos un estudio abductivo de descomposici & oacute;n de varianza para estimar la proporci & oacute;n de la varianza de la RSC explicada a nivel pa & iacute;s, en comparaci & oacute;n con los niveles empresariales, industriales y regionales, y c & oacute;mo los entornos culturales (en forma de colectivismo) modifican la importancia relativa de un pa & iacute;s. Un panel con 21.766 observaciones de 2.324 empresas en 59 pa & iacute;ses entre 2003 y 2022 revela que los efectos a nivel pa & iacute;s explican aproximadamente el 10% de la variaci & oacute;n en el desempe & ntilde;o de la RSC entre empresas, superando el poder explicativo de los efectos a nivel industria y regi & oacute;n. Los efectos a nivel pa & iacute;s son m & aacute;s fuertes en entornos culturales caracterizados por un bajo colectivismo institucional y un alto colectivismo dentro del grupo. Influ & ecirc;ncias a n & iacute;vel nacional s & atilde;o importantes para o desempenho em CSR (Responsabilidade Social Corporativa). Embora estudos anteriores tenham identificado quais vari & aacute;veis individuais, a n & iacute;vel nacional, preveem o desempenho em CSR de empresas, sabemos pouco sobre quanto da vari & acirc;ncia no desempenho em CSR & eacute; explicado por influ & ecirc;ncias sistem & aacute;ticas a n & iacute;vel nacional. Realizamos um estudo de decomposi & ccedil;& atilde;o de vari & acirc;ncia abdutiva para estimar a propor & ccedil;& atilde;o da vari & acirc;ncia em CSR explicada a n & iacute;vel nacional, em compara & ccedil;& atilde;o com os n & iacute;veis da empresa, da ind & uacute;stria e da regi & atilde;o, e a forma como os ambientes culturais, na forma de coletivismo, alteram a import & acirc;ncia relativa das influ & ecirc;ncias a n & iacute;vel nacional. Um painel cobrindo 21.766 observa & ccedil;& otilde;es de 2.324 empresas em 59 pa & iacute;ses entre 2003 e 2022 revela que os efeitos a n & iacute;vel de pa & iacute;s explicam cerca de 10% da varia & ccedil;& atilde;o no desempenho em CSR entre as empresas, superando o poder explicativo dos efeitos da ind & uacute;stria e da regi & atilde;o. Os efeitos em n & iacute;vel de pa & iacute;s s & atilde;o mais fortes em ambientes culturais caracterizados por baixo coletivismo institucional e alto coletivismo em grupos. (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic) (CSR) (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic).(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)CSR(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)CSR(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic).(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)CSR(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic),(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic).(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)2003(sic)(sic)2022(sic)(sic)59(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)2324(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)21,766(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)10%(sic)CSR(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic).(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic).