So Good, but So Far Away? The Effect of Institutional Distance on the Parent CSR and Subsidiary Reputation Link
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21259792 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Francisco Javier Forcadell (0000-0003-0145-1842, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, corresponding author), Juan José Nájera (0000-0003-1012-6136, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos), Elisa Aracil (0000-0002-8413-8204, Universidad Pontificia Comillas), Fernando Úbeda (0000-0002-0456-399X, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 35 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 2412-2432 |
| Publication date | 2026-07-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Business Ethics, the Environment & Responsibility (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2694-6416 • E-ISSN: 2694-6424 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/beer.70043 |
| OpenAlex | W4415836308 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 172 |
Multinational enterprises (MNEs) leverage strategies of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at the parent and subsidiary levels to build a reputation overseas. Nevertheless, institutional distance can weaken this connection in developing host countries, where MNEs face significant institutional voids. We explore the mechanisms through which CSR enhances subsidiary reputation, focusing on how stakeholders in host developing countries perceive CSR signals sent from headquarters. We further explore the moderating role of formal and informal institutional distance in this relationship. Using a panel of MNEs headquartered in developed countries and operating across Latin America, we employ a multi‐stakeholder indicator of the subsidiary reputation based on assessments from key host country stakeholders. The analysis controls for country, corporate, and subsidiary‐level factors, including a variable derived from big data analytics. By examining the cross‐country parent CSR signals and their subsidiary reputation effects, this study advances the international business literature, providing new insights into how institutional distance shapes the local reputational outcomes of parent CSR strategies
Corporate social responsibility · Developing country · Institutional theory · International business · Multinational corporation · Panel data · Reputation · Subsidiary · Corporate Identity and Reputation · International Business and FDI · Public Relations and Crisis Communication
Power, Institutions and Organizations
The social responsibility of international business
Sample Splitting and Threshold Estimation
Institutional Distance and the Multinational Enterprise
Toward a Theory of Social Judgments of Organizations
Which panel data estimator should I use?
Assessing cross-sectional correlation in panel data
Institutional Transitions and Strategic Choices
How corporate social responsibility is defined
Property Rights and Finance
The Contributions of the Economics of Information to Twentieth Century Economics
Inverse probability weighted M-estimators for sample selection, attrition, and stratification
Control Function Methods in Applied Econometrics
Beyond the business case for corporate sustainability
Organizational Reputation
Efficient Estimation of a System of Regression Equations when Disturbances are Both Serially and Contemporaneously Correlated
Stakeholder influence capacity and the variability of financial returns to corporate social responsibility
The Impact of Corporate Sustainability on Organizational Processes and Performance
“Implicit” and “Explicit” CSR
Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting in China
The Causal Effect of Corporate Governance on Corporate Social Responsibility
No Pain, No Gain
Signaling Theory
General Diagnostic Tests for Cross Section Dependence in Panels
The Lagrange Multiplier Test and its Applications to Model Specification in Econometrics
Specification Tests in Econometrics
Comparing capitalisms
Informal Institutions and Multinationals' Drive Towards Sustainable Development Goals ( SDGs )
The Impact of Board Diversity and Gender Composition on Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Reputation
Religious Schools, Social Values, and Economic Attitudes
Work and Wellbeing in Informal Economies
Do Informal Institutions Matter for Technological Change in Russia? The Impact of Communist Norms and Conventions, 1998–2004
Formal and Informal Institutions and Development
Job Market Signaling
Corporate Governance and Firm Value
The Iron Cage Revisited
Corporate Social Responsibility and institutional theory
What To Do (and Not to Do) with Time-Series Cross-Section Data
The Social Construction of Market Value
Institutions
The Central Role of Entrepreneurs in Transition Economies
A Pragmatic Redefinition of Value(s)
Institutional Logics and the Historical Contingency of Power in Organizations
| Highly cited | No |
|---|