International diversification and corporate social responsibility disclosure quality: Employee versus environmental dimensions

Abstract

Multinational enterprises (MNEs) face increasing institutional complexity as they expand internationally, which has a significant effect on their corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy. In this study, we investigate an under-explored difference between MNEs' employee and environmental CSR disclosure quality concerning the extent to which CSR reports are indicative of substantive activities. We propose that as international diversification increases institutional complexity, MNEs lower the disclosure quality of environmental CSR yet improve the disclosure quality of employee CSR due to their different institutional implications. In addition, we examine the effect of MNEs' home country cultural differences regarding uncertainty avoidance on the relationship between international diversification and employee and environmental disclosure quality. Based on a sample of 335 global MNEs from 31 countries, we found general support for our hypotheses.