Bruno Oxibar

Corporate social disclosure in the franchising sector: insights from french franchisors' websites

This paper explores corporate social responsibility () within the franchising sector. More specifically, using regulation theory, stakeholder–agency theory, transaction cost analysis, and literature on plural form, along with an empirical study conducted on the franchising sector in the French market, we find significant and positive relationships between chain size and the extent of corporate social disclosure () on franchisors’ websites and between the percentage of company‐owned units within the chain and the extent of on franchisors’ websites. Moreover, though findings reveal that 86.03 percent of the 136 sampled franchisors communicate about at least one of their activities on their websites, differences in terms of highlighted categories (e.g., environment, human resources, and products) and the extent of available information exist.

Drivers of socially responsible investment in the French financial market

In France, a religious congregation created the first ethical fund in 1983. By the end of the 1980s, only two ethical funds were operating. During the second half of the 1990s, the number of SRI funds rose rapidly – only 7 were available in 1997, by December 2001 this number had jumped to 42 and then to 137 by the end of 2007. In 2010, almost 300 SR funds were available. During the period from end of 2001 to end of 2010, the percentage of total French mutual fund capitalization represented by SRI funds climbed from 0.12% to nearly 1% (www.novethic.fr). Despite the fact that this total amount remains modest, still all retail networks are now offering such funds.