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A Perspective from Corporate Governance: How CSR Is Approached by European Corporate Governance Codes

The Critical State of Corporate Social Responsibility in Europe

ISBN: 978-1-78756-150-2, eISBN: 978-1-78756-149-6

Publication date: 19 July 2018

Abstract

Purpose

This chapter analyses how corporate governance codes in Europe approach CSR, devoting specific guidelines or recommendations or specifying the responsibility of implementing and disclosing CSR in the company.

Design/methodology/approach

Content analysis have been used in a sample of 27 corporate governance codes of 27 European countries, issued in the European Union (EU) and United Kingdom (UK), issued by governments (seven codes), national stock exchange (eight codes), industrial associations (six codes) and composites (six codes).

Findings

Only five out of 27 codes make and explicit reference to the term Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Two of them reflect the importance of a CSR Report (Slovenia and Spain), whereas the Spanish Code was the only code which devoted a section to the implementation of a CSR policy.

Social implications

Although corporate governance codes could represent an opportunity to shift the focus from an implicit CSR approach to an explicit CSR approach in Europe, the truth is that content related to the issue and its level of specificity does not reflect that change yet.

Originality/value

Previous literature has not focused on the analysis of corporate governance codes from a CSR perspective, so the chapter is relevant for policy makers when it comes to updating corporate governance codes.

Keywords

Citation

Baraibar-Diez, E., Odriozola, M.D. and Sánchez, J.L.F. (2018), "A Perspective from Corporate Governance: How CSR Is Approached by European Corporate Governance Codes", The Critical State of Corporate Social Responsibility in Europe (Critical Studies on Corporate Responsibility, Governance and Sustainability, Vol. 12), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 39-55. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2043-905920180000012002

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

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