National culture and UN global compact affiliation

Michel Coulmont, Kamille Lambert and Sylvie Berthelot

Social Responsibility Journal, 2018, vol. 14, issue 3, 584-600

Abstract: Purpose - Despite the global nature of the UN Global Compact (UNGC), a platform for the development, implementation and disclosure of responsible and sustainable corporate policies and practices, the participation of organisations is unequally distributed across societies. This paper aims to explore the relationship between national cultures, as defined by Hofstede, and organisations voluntarily affiliating with the UNGC. Design/methodology/approach - This study tests the relationship between national culture and firm affiliation with the UNGC using data derived from Hofstede’s works and information available on the UNGC website and other websites and accounting databases, covering 282 firms in 30 countries on 4 continents. Findings - The results indicate that firms in countries with high individualism or high masculinity rankings are more likely to affiliate with the UNGC. In addition, organisations in countries with less uncertainty avoidance, short-term orientation and high restraint are also more likely to affiliate with the UNGC. Originality/value - The results are interesting for initiatives like the UNGC. The development strategies and democratisation tools developed by this initiative will have to take into account the specific cultural features of different countries.

Keywords: Sustainability; Corporate social responsibility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:srjpps:srj-09-2016-0155

DOI: 10.1108/SRJ-09-2016-0155

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