An examination of attitudes and perceptions of Spanish business and accounting students toward corporate social responsibility and sustainability themes

This paper examines the attitudes and perceptions of business and accounting students toward corporate social responsibility and sustainability and what are the main variables for explaining differences in such attitudes and perceptions. Secondly, we compare the results of our study with those of th...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Manuel Larrán, Javier Andrades, Jesús Herrera
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidad de Murcia 2018-07-01
Series:Revista de Contabilidad: Spanish Accounting Review
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1138489118300025
Description
Summary:This paper examines the attitudes and perceptions of business and accounting students toward corporate social responsibility and sustainability and what are the main variables for explaining differences in such attitudes and perceptions. Secondly, we compare the results of our study with those of the previous literature to determine whether there are differences depending on cultural, socioeconomic and legal forces. To accomplish this task, a survey was administered to be fulfilled by Spanish business and accounting students. In total, we received 319 surveys duly responded. Our results show that business and accounting students surveyed in our research have manifested a greater concern for the social and environmental dimensions of the corporate social responsibility and sustainability term. Meanwhile students surveyed in previous studies showed a strong commitment to the economic dimension of the corporate social responsibility and sustainability concept. Such differences are supported by cultural, socioeconomic and legal forces as well as by the institutional commitment of the university. Resumen: Este artículo analiza las actitudes y percepciones de los alumnos de la rama empresarial y contable frente a la responsabilidad social corporativa y la sostenibilidad, y cuáles son las principales variables para explicar las diferencias en dichas actitudes y percepciones. Además, los resultados de este estudio se comparan con la bibliografía previa para establecer la influencia de factores culturales, legales y socioeconómicos en relación con la percepción de los alumnos. Para ello se administró una encuesta para ser cumplimentada por alumnos españoles del ámbito empresarial y contable. En total se recibieron 319 encuestas bien cumplimentadas. Los resultados del trabajo muestran que los alumnos encuestados en nuestro estudio mostraron mayor preocupación por los problemas sociales y medioambientales, mientras que los alumnos encuestados en estudios previos mostraron mayor preocupación por la dimensión económica de la responsabilidad social corporativa y la sostenibilidad. Estas diferencias pueden explicarse por factores culturales, socioeconómicos y legales, así como por el compromiso institucional de la universidad. JEL classification: M20, M41, Códigos JEL: M20, M41, Keywords: Corporate social responsibility, Sustainability, Students’ perceptions, Business and accounting education, Stakeholders, Palabras clave: Responsabilidad social corporativa, Sostenibilidad, Percepción de los alumnos, Formación empresarial y contable, Grupos de interés
ISSN:1138-4891