Motivations for corporate social responsibility reporting by MNC subsidiaries in an emerging country: The case of Bangladesh

Mahmood Ahmed Momin and Lee D. Parker

The British Accounting Review, 2013, vol. 45, issue 3, 215-228

Abstract: While many studies of the motivations behind the corporate social responsibility reporting (CSRR) practices of large corporations have been reported internationally, few have focussed on multinational corporation (MNC) subsidiaries. Most importantly, we still do not know how host country institutional norms, or parent corporation policies, influence MNC subsidiaries embarking upon CSRR. By integrating legitimacy theory (LT) and neo-institutional theory (NIT) explanations, this paper offers a theoretical framework for investigating the CSRR practices of MNC subsidiaries in general, and provides empirical evidence on the nature and motivations of subsidiaries’ CSRR practices in Bangladesh, a developing country. Employing a case study method and using qualitative data, the study finds that CSRR practice in Bangladeshi MNC subsidiaries is limited, consisting mainly of employee information. This observation mirrors the overall CSRR trend in Bangladesh. A desire for internal legitimacy emerges as the primary motivation for CSRR practice in MNC subsidiaries. In particular, the external host country environment of the Bangladeshi subsidiaries seems to be a major limitation in the development of CSRR.

Keywords: Bangladesh; Corporate social responsibility reporting; External legitimacy; Informal norms and beliefs; Internal legitimacy; Multinational corporation subsidiaries (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (41)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:bracre:v:45:y:2013:i:3:p:215-228

DOI: 10.1016/j.bar.2013.06.007

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