Individual Submission Summary
Share...

Direct link:

Organized Hypocrisy and Global Corporate Governance: National and Global Influences on Global Corporate Responsibility Disclosure

Mon, August 24, 2:30 to 4:10pm, TBA

Abstract

Organized hypocrisy, where talk, decisions, and actions do not cohere, is an endemic feature of modern organizations, especially in the realm of global corporate responsibility (GCR). In the latter half of the twentieth century, international organizations have promoted voluntary corporate responsibility disclosure in response to global corporate governance concerns, but with largely uneven results. This paper examines various firm, national, and global factors that facilitate or mitigate organized hypocrisy in GCR disclosure practices among corporations worldwide. Analyzing quantitative data on more than 1,700 disclosure reports submitted by corporations to the Global Reporting Initiative, this paper presents two main findings. First, external actors play significant roles in shaping GCR disclosure. Third-party organizations that verify corporations’ disclosure practices help mitigate organized hypocrisy while existing corporate disclosures in a company’s country of origin facilitates organized hypocrisy. Second, global factors such as world society ties help mitigate organized hypocrisy in GCR disclosure practices in lower-income countries while it is national factors such as a country’s legal tradition that reduces organized hypocrisy in GCR disclosure in higher-income countries. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of organized hypocrisy and GCR disclosure for attempts to address global corporate governance concerns.

Author