Journal article
Managing corporate-government relationships in a multi-cultural setting: How political corporate social responsibility (PCSR) as a response to legitimacy pressures affects firm reputation
Industrial marketing management, Vol.89, pp.1-12
08/01/2020
DOI: 10.1016/j.indmarman.2020.06.008
Abstract
As many multinationals set up subsidiaries in emerging markets, they face legitimacy pressures from the host countries. This pressure leads firms to engage in political corporate social responsibility (PCSR) activities. We distinguish two types of attributions of PCSR activities – public-serving and self-serving – and study how these two types of PCSR attributions affect firm reputation. Analyzing 463 PCSR activities by 104 firms in China between 2015 and 2017, we find that public-serving PCSR enhances firm reputation, while self-serving PCSR diminishes it. In addition, we document a negative interaction effect between the two attributions of PCSR. We also find that CEO participation attenuates the negative effect of self-serving PCSR whereas administrative distance accentuates the positive effect of public-serving PCSR. Our research contributes to the nascent literature on government relation networks and sheds light on how firms should manage their relationships with the host countries in a multi-cultural setting.
•When carrying out CSR in emerging markets, MNEs should actively respond to government’s public service initiatives.•Political CSR (i.e., PCSR) alleviates the political pressures and helps firms gain legitimacy and enhance reputation.•When implementing PCSR, firms should pay attention to whether their actions are attributed as public- or self-serving.•To enhance firm reputation, MNEs should take on PCSR activities with high public- and low self-serving attributions.•CEO participation in PCSR and the administrative difference between the home and host countries affect the attribution.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Managing corporate-government relationships in a multi-cultural setting: How political corporate social responsibility (PCSR) as a response to legitimacy pressures affects firm reputation
- Creators
- Jiuchang Wei - University of Science and Technology of ChinaTingting Liu - University of Science and Technology of ChinaDaniel E. Chavez - University of KentuckyHaipeng (Allan) Chen - University of Kentucky
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Industrial marketing management, Vol.89, pp.1-12
- Publisher
- Elsevier Inc
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.indmarman.2020.06.008
- ISSN
- 0019-8501
- eISSN
- 1873-2062
- Grant note
- DOI: 10.13039/501100001809, name: National Natural Science Foundation of China, award: 71828102, 71921001, 71522013; name: Foundation of the President of China National Institute of Standardization, award: 282019Y-6772; name: Science and Technology Planning Project of China's State Administration for Market Regulation, award: 2019MK121
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 08/01/2020
- Academic Unit
- Marketing
- Record Identifier
- 9984618524402771
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