Corporate Social Responsibility in the Real Estate Business: A Comparison Between Large and Small Companies in Finland and Sweden

Abstract

Objectives

The main objectives of this study were to explore what kind of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities exist in the real estate industry and what is the role of CSR among real estate companies. Another objective was to find out how it differs between large and small companies as well as Finnish and Swedish companies.

Summary

CSR is a popular and widely researched topic but not many research papers about CSR in the real estate industry exist. First, interview with the Managing Director of Suomen Asuntosatama Oy was conducted. The website of the company was then looked at, as well as websites of fifteen other Finnish and Swedish real estate agencies. The sample included both large and small companies Then, the contents were analyzed and compared with each other. Especially the differences between large and small companies, and Finnish and Swedish companies, were concentrated on.

Conclusions

The main findings of this study were that CSR is not a common phenomenon in the real estate industry. However, it does exist in some forms. Out of sixteen companies whose websites were looked at, four companies communicated CSR through their website. Large and small companies seem to have approximately same amount of concentration on CSR. Nevertheless, it has to be noted that CSR activities of large and small companies differ in size. This research did not notice any significant difference between Finnish and Swedish real estate agencies.