NGO Activism and Anti‐Corruption Disclosures: An Empirical Study of Emerging Economy Multinational Companies

Abstract

Building on social movement theory, we investigate particular stakeholder contexts, including non‐governmental organization (NGO) activism, within which emerging economy multinational companies (EMNCs) are more likely to disclose anti‐corruption information. By leveraging Transparency International's unique dataset on anti‐corruption disclosures by EMNCs, we find that EMNCs disclose more anti‐corruption information in countries with a lower level of government oppression of NGOs, greater transparency of NGOs, as well as a greater number of anti‐corruption NGOs operating in such markets. EMNCs with a higher level of internationalization exhibit more anti‐corruption disclosures when they are based in countries with a higher level of NGO transparency and a lower level of government oppression of NGOs. Anti‐corruption disclosures of EMNCs are more responsive to corruption scandals when they are headquartered in less repressive countries and countries with a higher level of NGO transparency. This study provides original insights into whether and how the NGO‐driven social movement process in institutional environments plays a role in influencing the anti‐corruption disclosure and transparency practices of EMNCs. We argue that, within the context of emerging economies, unless we consider the interactions of NGO activism with internationalization and corruption scandals, we will be unable to fully understand anti‐corruption disclosure practices by EMNCs.