A comparative understanding of corporate social responsibility of textile firms in Brazil and China

Brazilian and Chinese textile firms are exposed to a highly competitive global market. In both countries, corporate social responsibility encompasses practices related to markets, the workplace, the environment, community relationships and company values. We studied the influence of three variables (country location, firm size and position in the value chain) on the adoption of CSR practices. Our study reveals that CSR was not widely used in textile industries in either China or Brazil. However, Brazilian firms have many more CSR practices in place than Chinese firms suggesting that the country where a firm is located strongly influences CSR adoption. Firm size and position in the value chain also exert significant influence but to a lesser extent than the country variable. We argue that the CSR differences between countries result from the unique historical evolution of their national business systems. This together with the institutional framework of a country affect CSR approaches. In the case of textile firms, coercive isomorphism plays a dominant role in legitimizing CSR. The more transparent and rule-based governance system in Brazil explains the more comprehensive CSR practices. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.