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Community Institutions and Initial Diffusion of Corporate Social Responsibility Practices in China's Banking Industry

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 September 2015

Junxiu Sun ,
Feng Wang ,
Fanghua Wang  and
Haitao Yin
Junxiu Sun
Affiliation:
Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China,
Feng Wang
Affiliation:
Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, China
Fanghua Wang
Affiliation:
Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China,
Haitao Yin*
Affiliation:
Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China,
*
Corresponding author: Haitao Yin (htyin@sjtu.edu.cn)
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Abstract

The existing literature does not provide adequate insight into the initial diffusion of new management practices, especially those that yield no immediate economic benefits, and have not yet gained legitimacy. We study how firms’ local institutional environments influence early adoption behavior, examining the spread of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports in China's banking industry from 2006 to 2011. We find that banks are more likely to be first movers of CSR reporting if they operate in communities where more companies publish CSR reports or where there are guidelines encouraging CSR reporting, and the impacts of these two institutional factors are further moderated by the length of time that banks have operated in communities. Our study highlights the usefulness of institutional theory in understanding the initial adoption of new management practices, when the organizational field is defined as a geographic community instead of an industry sector and its supply chain.

Keywords

ChinaCSR reportingdecision-makinggeographic communityinitial diffusioninstitutional theory
Type
Special Issue Articles
Information
Management and Organization Review , Volume 11 , Issue 3: Special Issue Building Sustainable Organizations in China , September 2015 , pp. 441 - 468
Copyright
Copyright © The International Association for Chinese Management Research 2015 

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