The impact of national culture and social capital on corporate social responsibility attitude among immigrants entrepreneurs

Although significant attention has been given to the phenomenon of\r\nimmigrant entrepreneurship, little is known about the adoption of corporate social\r\nresponsibility (CSR) in immigrant firms. Beyond the traditional social, cultural and\r\nregulatory challenges in the last years immigrant entrepreneurs have had to cope\r\nwith the wide growing interest towards CSR, with raising expectations about firm’s\r\nenvironmental and social behaviors. This study provides initial insights on this topic\r\nby studying the effect of social capital and national culture on the immigrant\r\nentrepreneur’s attitude to adopt CSR in three areas: social, health and safety and\r\nenvironment. Sixty semi-structured interviews were conducted among immigrant\r\nentrepreneurs in the Italian Province of Milan; the first one for number of immigrant\r\nentrepreneurs. Data collected were analyzed through OLS regression. Findings\r\nshows that power distance and individualism/collectivism have a negative relation\r\nwith all the three CSR areas, while uncertainty avoidance is negatively related only\r\nto environmental effort. We find out a robust relation between national culture and\r\nenvironmental and social practices and the health and safety area. The study concludes\r\nwith practical implications and suggestions for future research. The paper is\r\none of the first studies that address the topic of CSR among immigrant entrepreneurs.\r\nUnderstanding the commitment of this firms is relevant for the debate around\r\nCSR and SMEs, mainly because immigrant entrepreneurs are increasing their relevance\r\nin the developed countries.