History and Institutional Setting of Corporate Social Reporting (CSR): The Japanese Context

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to sketch the history of the Japanese CSR and put up the determinants of its unique institutional settings by following a semi-systematic literature review. Findings suggest that Japan has a rich history of environmental reporting. It is a code-low-based country where CSR-context is voluntary and is featured with flexible guidelines, social responsibility-based corporate philosophy and internally collaborative corporate culture; these attributes are positive for the growth of CSR in Japan. However, this growth could be halted due to excessive dependency on local guidelines; additional challenges for the Japanese CSRs are environmental-heavy disclosures, dwarfed social disclosures, information overload, overlooking ESG-based targets and less integration between the financial and non-financial parts of the CSR. This paper contributes by formulating an institutional framework dedicated to the understanding of Japanese CSRs’ unique attributes;CSR-focused researchers and non-financial framework/standard setters are likely to draw value from this endeavor.