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A Comparison of Canadian and U.S. CSR Strategic Alliances, CSR Reporting, and CSR Performance: Insights into Implicit–Explicit CSR

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Abstract

We considered the question of how corporate social responsibility (CSR) differs between Canada and the U.S. Prior research has identified that national institutional differences exist between the two countries [Freeman and Hasnaoui, J Business Ethics 100(3):419–443, 2011], which may be associated with variations in their respective CSR practices. Matten and Moon [Acad Manag Rev 33(2):404–424, 2008] suggested that cross-national differences in firms’ CSR are depicted by an implicit–explicit conceptual framework: explicit CSR practices are deliberate and more strategic than implicit CSR practices. We compared Canada and U.S. CSR and examined how CSR strategic alliances, CSR reporting, and CSR performance in the two countries correspond to implicit versus explicit CSR practices, which we link to stakeholder and signaling perspectives. We relied upon a new database, the Sustainalytics Global Platform (SGP), and we found a positive association exists between CSR strategic alliances and the number of years that firms have issued standalone CSR reports in both countries. Moreover, we found that CSR scores mediated this association in the U.S., as U.S. firms with high CSR scores typically engage in more CSR strategic alliances. In Canada, we did not find this mediating effect. Our findings suggest that U.S. firms engage in signaling activities that are more strategic and explicit than their Canadian counterparts. This paper closes with implications for practice and theory.

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Notes

  1. A strong corpus of literature on CSR collaborations has focused on public–private partnerships or cross-sector partnerships (e.g., Austin 2010; Austin and Seitanidi 2012a, b); nevertheless, we examine CSR strategic alliances to further our understanding of variations between Canadian and U.S. CSR practices.

  2. Two researchers separately classified each strategic alliance, as identified by the SDC Platinum database, by whether the alliance has a purpose consistent with one of the categories identified by the SGP CSR categorization framework, which includes the categories of corporate governance, community, environment, diversity, employee relations, product concerns, and human rights. If the objective of the strategic alliance is consistent with one of the categories of the SGP, it was identified as being a CSR strategic alliance (Fig. 2). All differences between the two evaluations were resolved by consultation with a third researcher.

  3. Hitherto, two databases were the standards for comprehensive information on CSR data for firms: The KLD (Kinder, Lydenberg, and Domini) database in the U.S. and the CSID (Canadian Social Investment Database) in Canada. Previously, the owners of the KLD and CSID databases worked cooperatively on several projects resulting in both databases being based on similar dimensions of social performance (Mahoney and Roberts 2007). However, in 2009, Michael Jantzi Research merged with Sustainalytics to create SGP, with its wider coverage of CSR of firms from 47 countries.

  4. Our analysis confirms prior research (Thorne et al. 2010) that relied on comparing the CSR scores of Canada and U.S. firms using two different databases (KLD for U.S. and CSID for Canada) that calculate CSR scores using similar methodology.

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Correspondence to Lois S. Mahoney.

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Thorne, L., Mahoney, L.S., Gregory, K. et al. A Comparison of Canadian and U.S. CSR Strategic Alliances, CSR Reporting, and CSR Performance: Insights into Implicit–Explicit CSR. J Bus Ethics 143, 85–98 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-015-2799-6

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