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Published in: Journal of Business Ethics 4/2015

01-09-2015

Being Good When Being International in an Emerging Economy: The Case of China

Authors: Yan-Leung Cheung, Dongmin Kong, Weiqiang Tan, Wenming Wang

Published in: Journal of Business Ethics | Issue 4/2015

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Abstract

The importance imposed on corporate social responsibility (CSR) is greater in developed economies than in emerging markets. The pressures from various stakeholder groups on the CSR are expected to have substantial spillover impact on companies domiciled in emerging economies that obtain revenues from companies in developed economies. Based on the data from 1,330 listed companies in China, the largest emerging economy in the world, this study provides evidence that the CSR performance of China firms is positively related to the degree of their internationalization, and such a positive association is less pronounced for state-owned enterprises. Our findings support the hypothesis that internationalized companies in emerging economies are motivated to improve their CSR practices to address concerns from their importers or outsourcers in developed economies.

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Appendix
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Footnotes
1
Lococo (2012).
 
2
Since 1998, the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges have classified some listed firms as special treatment firms. A firm is labeled special treatment if there is an abnormality in its financial status, along with other factors that result in difficulty in judging company prospects.
 
3
In China, most listed companies do not disclose their adverting expenses. However, given that advertising expenses are typically a stable proportion of sales expenses, we use the ratio of sales expenses to total sales as a proxy for advertising intensity.
 
4
China Securities Regulatory Commission issued the Industry Classification Guide of Listed Companies in April 2001, which categorizes companies into 12 industries.
 
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Metadata
Title
Being Good When Being International in an Emerging Economy: The Case of China
Authors
Yan-Leung Cheung
Dongmin Kong
Weiqiang Tan
Wenming Wang
Publication date
01-09-2015
Publisher
Springer Netherlands
Published in
Journal of Business Ethics / Issue 4/2015
Print ISSN: 0167-4544
Electronic ISSN: 1573-0697
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2268-7

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