scholarly journals Navigating cross-border institutional complexity: A review and assessment of multinational nonmarket strategy research

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pei Sun ◽  
Jonathan P. Doh ◽  
Tazeeb Rajwani ◽  
Donald Siegel
Keyword(s):  
Multinational Enterprises ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Strategy Research ◽  
Corporate Political Activity ◽  
Missed Opportunities ◽  
Nonmarket Strategy ◽  
Global Issues ◽  
Global Institutions ◽  
Corporate Social

AbstractMultinational enterprises are deeply engaged in nonmarket strategy (NMS), including both corporate political activity (CPA) and strategic corporate social responsibility (SCSR). In this review, we document the multinational NMS research according to contributions’ theme, method, context, theory, and level of analysis. We then develop an institutional multiplicity framework to organize our analysis of this large and fragmented body of literature. In so doing, we identify the most impactful contributions within three major themes – multinational CPA, multinational SCSR, and the integration of CPA and SCSR – and their respective subthemes, and call attention to limitations in the extant research. We also highlight promising avenues for future research, including expanding the scope of NMS to incorporate microfoundations research, integrating macrolevel scholarship on global institutions, placing greater attention on the interaction between CPA and SCSR, and incorporating multi-actor global issues and movements. Our review underscores the growing importance and missed opportunities of NMS research in the international business field.

Corporate Political Activity and Regulatory Capture: How Some Companies Blunt the Knife of Socially Oriented Investor Activism

2016 ◽  
Vol 44 (5) ◽  
pp. 2064-2093 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Hadani ◽  
Jonathan P. Doh ◽  
Marguerite A. Schneider
Keyword(s):  
Shareholder Activism ◽  
Securities And Exchange Commission ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Social Movement Organizations ◽  
Regulatory Capture ◽  
Corporate Political Activity ◽  
Nonmarket Strategy ◽  
Labor Policies ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Impact

Socially oriented shareholder activism is an increasingly important mechanism through which social movement organizations seek to influence the private sector by exerting pressure on corporate activities in areas such as human rights, environmental protection, and labor policies. This activism challenges the status quo of targeted firms and potentially their institutional field, disrupting “business as usual” and often drawing negative attention to the firms. We theorize that some firms might use corporate political activity (CPA) as an indirect, nonmarket strategy aimed at regulatory capture to reduce the impact of such disruptions. We focus on one popular avenue of shareholder activism—the proxy proposal mechanism—and the role the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) plays in allowing omission of socially oriented shareholder proposals from the proxy ballot. Using two distinct data sources, we find evidence that for S&P 500 firms, the SEC allows for the omission of the proposals from proxy ballots more frequently for those firms more active in CPA. These findings inform the growing scholarship on socially oriented activism as well as suggest the indirect influence of CPA on government agency decision making.

scholarly journals Impact of Corporate Political Activity on the Relationship Between Corporate Social Responsibility and Financial Performance: A Dynamic Panel Data Approach

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Woon Lin ◽  
Jo Ho ◽  
Murali Sambasivan
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Panel Data ◽  
Financial Performance ◽  
Dynamic Panel Data ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Corporate Political Activity ◽  
Dynamic Panel ◽  
Financial Position ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
The Relationship

As corporate social responsibility (CSR) gains momentum in the business world, it is imperative to comprehend the relationship between CSR and corporate financial performance (CFP). While there is prior research looking at this relationship, scholars have proposed a contingency view that is meant to determine the situational contexts in which critical associations between CFP and CSR activities will arise. This study provides further insight into the moderating effects of corporate political activity, specifying the ways in which different arrangements of corporate CSR and CPA might align or otherwise, thus influencing CFP beyond associated dissimilar effects on corporate performance. The data for this study was obtained for the periods 2007–2016 from the samples selected from the list of Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies. The dynamic panel data was analyzed using the System Generalized Method of Moment estimation. The main findings are that CSR does not significantly influence CFP. However, CPA does negatively moderate the relationship between CSR and CFP. This indicates that high political expenditures worsen a firm’s financial position compared to the financial position of firms with less spending on CPA.

Nonmarket Responses to Regulation: A Signaling Theory Approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 865-891
Author(s):  
Lee Warren Brown ◽  
Irene Goll ◽  
Abdul A. Rasheed ◽  
Wayne S. Crawford
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Signaling Theory ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Federal Regulations ◽  
Corporate Political Activity ◽  
The Us ◽  
Regulatory Intensity ◽  
Corporate Social

We examine how regulatory intensity and increases in regulation affect the nonmarket activities of firms. Using a signaling theory perspective, we seek to better understand how firms respond to regulation in terms of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate political activity (CPA), the two main pillars of nonmarket activity. Examination of both CSR and CPA in concert rather than in isolation provides insights into whether they are complements or substitutes. We use textual analysis of the US Code of Federal Regulations to measure regulatory intensity and increases in regulation. Based on a sample of 331 S&P 500 firms for the period 1998–2014, our findings suggest that regulatory intensity leads to more nonmarket responses from firms. We also find support for nonlinear relationships between CSR and CPA.

Corporate Political Activity and Sensitivity to Social Attacks: The Case of Family-Managed Firms

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 152-174
Author(s):  
James G. Combs ◽  
Richard J. Gentry ◽  
Sean Lux ◽  
Peter Jaskiewicz ◽  
T. Russell Crook
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Large Firms ◽  
Corporate Political Activity ◽  
Standard And Poor's ◽  
Corporate Social

Family-managed firms take actions to protect their reputations. We theorize that one such action involves avoiding corporate political activity (CPA) that expose firms to social attack, especially when also invested in corporate social responsibility. Because large firms are frequent targets for social attack, the same sensitivity that encourages most family managers to avoid CPA encourages it among the largest as a buffer. Supportive analysis of Standard and Poor’s 500 firms shows that family-managed firms spend, on average, 86% less on CPA, even less when invested in substantive corporate social responsibility. The largest invest as much or more in CPA as nonfamily peers.

scholarly journals Sugary drinks taxation: industry’s lobbying strategies, practices, and arguments in the Brazilian legislature

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
Aline Brandão Mariath ◽  
Ana Paula Bortoletto Martins
Keyword(s):  
Food Industry ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Corporate Political Activity ◽  
Public Health Recommendation ◽  
Sugary Drinks ◽  
Public Hearings ◽  
Five Practices ◽  
Industry Associations ◽  
Environmental Importance

Abstract Objective: to assess the strategies, practices, and arguments used by the industry to lobby legislators against sugary drinks taxation in Brazil. Design: we performed a content analysis of arguments put forward by sugary drink and sugar industries against sugary drinks taxation, using the framework developed by the International Network for Food and Obesity/NCD Research, Monitoring and Action Support to assess corporate political activity of the food industry. Setting: two public hearings held in 2017 and 2018 in the Brazilian Legislature. Participants: representatives from two prominent industry associations – one representing Big Soda and the other representing the main sugar, ethanol, and bioelectricity producers. Results: the ‘Information and messaging’ and ‘Policy substitution’ strategies were identified. Five practices were identified in the ‘Information and messaging’ strategy (four described in the original framework and an additional practice, ‘Stress the environmental importance of the industry’). Mechanisms not included in the original framework identified were ‘Stress the reduction of CO2 emissions promoted by the industry’; ‘Question the effectiveness of regulation’; ‘Suggest public-private partnerships’; ‘Shift the blame away from the product’; and ‘Question sugary drinks taxation as a public health recommendation’. No new practices or mechanisms to the original framework emerged in the ‘Policy substitution’ strategy. Conclusions: the strategies and practices are used collectively and complement each other. Arguments hereby identified are in line with those reported in other countries under different contexts and using different methodologies. Future research should address whether and under what conditions lobbying from this industry sector is effective in the Brazilian Legislature.

scholarly journals CSR Needs CPR: Corporate Sustainability and Politics

2018 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 5-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas P. Lyon ◽  
Magali A. Delmas ◽  
John W. Maxwell ◽  
Pratima (Tima) Bansal ◽  
Mireille Chiroleu-Assouline ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Political Responsibility ◽  
Corporate Environmental Responsibility ◽  
Rating Systems ◽  
Corporate Political Activity ◽  
Policy Positions ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
Political Actions

Corporate sustainability has gone mainstream, and many companies have taken meaningful steps to improve their own environmental performance. But while corporate political actions such as lobbying can have a greater impact on environmental quality, they are ignored in most current sustainability metrics. It is time for these metrics to be expanded to critically assess firms based on the sustainability impacts of their public policy positions. To enable such assessments, firms must become as transparent about their corporate political responsibility (CPR) as their corporate social responsibility (CSR). For their part, rating systems must demand such information from firms and include evaluations of corporate political activity in their assessments of corporate environmental responsibility.

Unearthing the Context of Corporate Social Responsibility, Sustainable Development and Climate Change: Towards Future Research Direction

2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanil S Hishan ◽  
Suresh Ramakrishnan ◽  
Lai Kwee Yee ◽  
Khartic Rao Manokaran
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Research Direction ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Global Business ◽  
Global Issues ◽  
Corporate Social

Although the social and environmental effects of global business are not fresh, there have been increased concerns in recent years as a result of urgent global issues such as climate change and deprivation. In terms of their regional reach and operations, multinational corporations are perceived as having a particular role, since they address a variety of concerns, stakeholders and societal structures, in both home and host countries. They are regarded continuously as having the capacity to be not only part of the issue but also potentially part of the remedy and have been illustrated in their research interests in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and global business' sustainable development implications. However, there was no formal research and inclusion in the literature. This paper discusses how these topics have been explored in IB work and describe specific knowledge differences and solutions. It often introduces recent experiments that yield insightful findings that lead to exciting areas for more study.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document