Guest editorial: Gaining insights into dynamics of responsible business practices in the South Asian context

The importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has grown demonstrably over the past several decades for corporations (Ferrell et al., 2016; Eccles et al., 2014), investors (Bansal et al., 2022; Kruger, 2015) and other stakeholders (SEC, 2022; Dmytriyev et al., 2021; Edmans, 2011; Russo and Perini, 2010). However, much of the core research has been focused in developed economies, specifically the United States and Western Europe, where voluntary or mandatory standards have been implemented (Bochkay et al., 2025; Erbach, 2021; Acemoglu et al., 2016). Given the importance of regulatory frameworks to country-specific developments in sustainable business practices (Singhania and Saini, 2023), an important empirical question for study is which idiosyncratic and institutional structures drive CSR and other responsible business practices…