Institutional factors influencing the development of corporate social responsibility, taking into account the regional characteristics of Russia

A quantitative assessment was conducted of the impact of key institutional factors – regulatory pressure, geographical specialization, and dependence on a single industry town – on the development and implementation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices in companies operating in the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia. Empirical Analysis was conducted using a dataset of the 22 largest companies in the region. The methodology includes fixed-effects regression analysis to assess the direct impact of factors, construction of regulatory pressure and geographical isolation indices, threshold regression to identify nonlinear dependencies, and structural equation modeling to test mediation hypotheses. The Results confirm the dual impact of regulatory pressure, which stimulates the environmental component of CSR (β = 0.21) but reduces social investments (β = –0.15) due to resource redistribution effects. It was found that geographical isolation and single-industry town status are significant determinants of increased local social responsibility (β = 0.11 and β = 0.17, respectively), with this influence being fully mediated by the need to obtain a “social license to operate”. For extractive companies operating in territories inhabited by indigenous peoples, a critical threshold of social legitimacy was identified (0.65 on the standardized scale), exceeding which significantly reduces operational risks. The institutional environment acts as a key mediator through which CSR practices affect the long-term financial sustainability of business (indirect effect β = 0.38; 88% of the total effect). Overall, the effectiveness of CSR in peripheral regions is determined not by the volume of investments but by the degree of their adaptation to local institutional conditions. This confirms the need for a contextual approach to sustainable development management.