• A Study on the CSR Disclosure of Two International Retailers: Carrefour and President Chain Store Corporation

Abstract

Purpose – The study compares the disclosure variation in the five sub-constructs of corporate social responsibility (CSR), namely economy, environment, employment, human rights, and community involvement between international retailers, with different degrees of CSR development in their home countries.

Design/methodology/approach – We chose to target Carrefour as a prime example of early adopter of cutting-edge development of CSR in their home country, and President chain store corporation (PCSC) as a CSR follower in terms of relatively lower-level development of CSR in their home country, respectively. Computer-assisted content analysis is used to examine the difference in information disclosed by each company in CSR-related reports from 2013 to 2020.

Findings – The CSR disclosure by PCSC is greater than that of Carrefour and varies significantly. Carrefour places considerable emphasis on employment and environmental constructs while PCSC emphasizes community involvement aspects. The amount of CSR disclosure by international retailers in Taiwan is increasing year by year. In the long run, international retailers have been known to emphasize CSR disclosure of matters relating to community involvement, employment, and environment.

Research limitations/implications – Future study can include different types of retailing industries and use different language models to conduct content analysis.

Practical implications/Social implications – This study provides insights into how international retailers from different countries utilize CSR disclosure to effectively respond to stakeholders. By means of the exploration of the emphasis on CSR constructs, their relative importance for international retailers can be examined.

Originality/value – This research aims to compare the differences in CSR disclosure between international retailers who achieved different levels of development in their home respective countries and the process of disclosing changes on CSR constructs over time, focusing on an industry that has rarely been studied in the past.

Keywords – International retailers, Corporate social responsibility disclosure, Cross-country comparison, Computer-assisted content analysis