Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
3-2024
Abstract
We study the external influence of social capital, measured by Facebook's (now Meta) Social Connectedness Index, on a firm's decision to adopt policies that promote a more diverse corporate environment. Recent studies find corporate policies that embrace sexual diversity are beneficial to firms and their stakeholders, thereby contributing to their corporate social responsibility (CSR) and business sustainability. We find that firms with a high social network centrality are more likely to adopt policies and business strategies that support sexual diversity. Moreover, firms that adopt good CSR practices are more likely to implement more inclusive policies such as sexual diversity policies. This provides for a more comfortable work environment for the LGBT+ community. However, we also find that firms reduce their adoption of inclusive policies during times of economic uncertainty, supporting the pessimistic view that firms decrease window dressing activities during economic downturns when governance is tightened, and resources are scarce. We attribute this phenomenon to the exploitation of agency benefits by managers.
Keywords
corporate social responsibility, inclusive corporate environment, sexual diversity policies, social capital, social network centrality
Discipline
Gender and Sexuality | Organizational Behavior and Theory
Research Areas
Organisational Behaviour and Human Resources
Areas of Excellence
Sustainability
Publication
Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management
First Page
1
Last Page
16
ISSN
1535-3958
Identifier
10.1002/csr.2790
Publisher
Wiley
Citation
NUNDHAPANA, Nuttavuth; CHIRAPHOL, Chiyachantana N.; DING, Kuan Yong David; and TREEPONGKARUNA, Sirimon.
Social network centrality and the corporate environment: The case of sexual diversity policies. (2024). Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management. 1-16.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/7502
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.2790