An institutional analysis of corporate social responsibility in the Turkish banking sector

Abstract

What constitutes responsibilities of a company has long been an issue of debate. The economic view that companies are responsible only to their shareholders has evolved and broadened to include all stakeholders. Today, as corporate citizens, businesses are expected to contribute to the societies in which they are embedded. As people increasingly become aware and critical of the effects of business world on society, corporations’ efforts to fulfill their social responsibility have gained utmost importance for their survival. Against this background, this study examines the corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices of companies operating in Turkish banking sector from an institutional perspective. The sample includes 27 deposit and participation banks operating in Turkey as of December 2015. Data were gathered from their annual reports and analyzed by content analysis. The impact of age, size, geographical diversification, availability of financial resources, quotation on Borsa Istanbul and ownership structure on overall CSR scores received by banks, the number of target groups addressed, and the number of fields in which banks execute their CSR activities, is examined. Findings show that older, larger, more geographically diversified, financially better-off and domestic banks quoted on Borsa Istanbul have higher CSR scores, target a larger number of groups with activities in a larger number of fields.