Suzuki Kenji    Department   Undergraduate School  , School of Global Japanese Studies    Position   Professor
Language	English
Publication Date	2005/03
Type	Bulletin of Universities and Institutes
Title	Corporate Social Responsibility in Japan: Analyzing the Participating Companies in Global Reporting Initiative
Contribution Type	Co-authored (first author)
Journal	Working Paper of European Institute of Japanese Studies, Stockholm School of Economics
Volume, Issue, Page	208
Author and coauthor	Kanji Tanimoto
Details	Following the US and Europe, Japan is now becoming aware of the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). In fact, Japan has become the country with the largest number of participants in Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), which is currently the most acknowledged reporting system of CSR in the world. However, the mere number of the participants does not tell much. The Japanese approach to CSR may well differ from the Western approach, given various differences in their socio-economic characteristics. Against this background, two empirical tests are conducted. The identification of the characteristics of the Japanese adopters of GRI Guidelines implies the erosion of the traditional corporate-centered system of that country both from outside and from inside. On the other hand, the manner of adoption is found to be quite different between Japan and the West, which may be a sign of cultural or systematic resistance to total convergence.