Revisiting the relation between geographical diversification and corporate social responsibility: the role of segment disclosure (SFAS 131) and institutional environment

Previous research has provided contingent results on the relationship between geographic diversification and corporate social responsibility. We revisit this relationship by studying the different levels of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure of the largest US multinationals, using a more rigorous research design. We improve on the previous literature by focusing on geographic segment information under Financial Accounting Standards Statement No. 131 (SFAS 131) and by developing two reliable measures of geographic diversification (Geographic Diversification Depth, Geographic Diversification Breadth). These new measures capture the level information of geographic diversification that the measures used by previous studies. From a sample of 1108 multinationals in 22 countries encompassing 11,080 observations over a period spanning from 2009 to 2018, we find that the geographical diversification of multinationals is negatively associated with CSR scores, which is consistent with the explanation of social interaction. A DID approach shows that the results hold when controlling for endogeneity between geographic diversification and CSR. Moreover, the overall effect of associating higher levels of CSR disclosure with higher levels of geographic diversification is stronger in countries with more democracy, more government effectiveness, and better regulatory quality. Therefore, host country-level characteristics affect the social and environmental behavior of geographically diversified and cross-listed multinationals in the USA.