This study adopts an innovative, holistic research approach based on fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fs‐QCA) to deeply delve into national cultural dimensions' role in affecting banks' sustainability disclosure practices in the Eastern European (EE) region. Accordingly, this study aims to identify whether one or more configurations of cultural dimensions derived from Hofstede's national culture framework are conducive to higher levels of sustainability disclosure, using a sample including the five largest banks in each country of the ‘Bucharest Nine’ (B9) area over 2018–2022 period. Results evidence that sustainability disclosure patterns are not homogeneous among the banks operating in B9 countries. After the introduction of Directive 95/2014/EU, banks in some countries maintained relatively constant levels of sustainability disclosure, while others experienced steady growth rates. No cultural dimension alone would likely determine higher sustainability disclosure levels among B9 banks, confirming that normative pressures influencing EE banks' sustainability disclosure practices result from a combination of more cultural facets. In particular, fs‐QCA highlights a bundle of cultural dimension configurations that mould stakeholders' expectations in investigated countries, exerting pressures on banks to enhance their transparency on sustainability issues. The presence of power distance recurs in most configurations as a factor enabling higher sustainability disclosure levels. On the other hand, in most cases, the presence of uncertainty avoidance and long‐term orientation is conducive to higher banks' sustainability and transparency.

中文翻译：

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银行业的文化维度和可持续性披露：来自定性比较分析方法的见解


本研究采用基于模糊集定性比较分析（fs-QCA）的创新、整体研究方法，深入探讨国家文化因素对东欧（EE）地区银行可持续披露实践的影响。因此，本研究旨在确定源自霍夫斯泰德民族文化框架的一种或多种文化维度配置是否有利于更高水平的可持续性披露，使用的样本包括“布加勒斯特九家”中每个国家最大的五家银行（B9） 2018-2022 年期间的面积。结果表明，在 B9 国家运营的银行之间的可持续发展披露模式并不相同。 95/2014/EU 指令出台后，一些国家的银行保持了相对稳定的可持续发展披露水平，而另一些国家则经历了稳定的增长率。任何文化因素都不可能单独决定 B9 银行更高的可持续发展披露水平，这证实了影响 EE 银行可持续发展披露实践的规范压力是更多文化方面综合作用的结果。特别是，fs-QCA 强调了一系列文化维度配置，这些配置塑造了受调查国家利益相关者的期望，向银行施加压力，要求其提高可持续性问题的透明度。权力距离的存在在大多数配置中反复出现，作为实现更高可持续性披露水平的一个因素。另一方面，在大多数情况下，规避不确定性和长期导向的存在有利于银行更高的可持续性和透明度。