Do External Stakeholders Influence CSR Reporting in India: Evidence from a Mixed-methods Study

Abstract

This study assesses how external stakeholders shape corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting in a mandatory CSR regime. While previous research demonstrates the role of stakeholders in influencing responsible business conduct, research has offered little evidence on how external stakeholders, such as regulators and other external constituents, influence CSR reporting practice, particularly in a developing country context. We gathered relevant longitudinal data of 132 Indian companies for eight years from 2010 to 2024 (covering 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2024) to comprehend the CSR reporting trend preceding and following CSR regulation in India. The same data set was used for content analysis and quantitative analysis. Content analysis revealed an increase in CSR reporting in India over the studied years. Relying on a mixed-methods approach, we first analyzed panel data to examine how external stakeholders such as regulators, CSR-promoting institutions and industry characteristics affect CSR reporting. Our findings highlight that external stakeholders exert significant influence on CSR disclosure practices, with a stronger impact coming from environmentally sensitive industries. We complemented this with in-depth interviews with 20 senior CSR managers to interpret how organizational actors interpret the regulator’s CSR expectations and respond to institutional pressures. Our qualitative findings reveal that regulation, cultures and values, and firm reputation drive managers’ perception and action towards CSR reporting in a mandatory CSR setting. By integrating the quantitative and qualitative analyses, our study advances the existing scholarship on how external stakeholders shape CSR reporting behaviour in the context where regulators’ demands increasingly drive corporate accountability.