Corporate Governance and Social Responsability: an Analysis of French and Italian SMEs

This article explores the relationship between corporate governance systems and the social responsibility of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The joint analysis of the questions of corporate governance and social responsibility seems particularly relevant, especially in Europe where the industrial landscape is deeply changing under the triple influence of the phenomenon of globalisation, the process of European integration and of globalisation. The empirical study conducted by the authors is based on a sample of 176 French and Italian SMEs. It reveals that companies that are possessed and managed by family-members show more social responsibility than companies that are owned by third parties and run by external managers. Moreover, French and Italian companies demonstrate different social behaviours, which can be explained by the characteristics of their structural and institutional environment. Overall, our analysis show that A European model exists but that nonetheless different national characteristics remains.