Location matters: Impact of geographical proximity to financial centers on corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure in emerging economies

This study investigates the impact of location on corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure in the context of emerging economies. We test our hypotheses using a sample of firms from nine emerging markets, including Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, Russia and Turkey, over the period 2010–2015. We find strong and robust evidence indicating that firms located closer to financial centers exhibit more CSR disclosure as compared to their remote counterparts. Moreover, this effect is more pronounced for family owned and cross-listed firms. Lastly, the negative effect of distance on CSR disclosure is stronger in countries with higher income inequality. These results are robust to alternative estimation methods, reduced sample, and alternative proxy for our variable, location.