The Romanian Banking System –Key Dimensions and Visibility of CSR Practices

Abstract

The concept of corporate social responsibility has received broad attention from both academics and business sector during the past decades. The field has grown and so have the theories and specific terminologies on CSR. Moreover, the approaches on CSR cover several perspectives such as, but not limited to marketing, public relations, stakeholder relation, strategy, or impact on financial performance. The concept has also permeated different economic sectors. Without receiving as much attention as other sectors, the research results on CSR in the banking system revealed interesting findings. In this paper, we aimed at briefly reviewing the evolution of CSR and its application in the banking system, with a particular focus on the case of Romania. Subsequently, we conducted a concise analysis of the evolution of the banking system in Romania, and examined the CSR practices of the first three banks, ranked according to the value of assets and market share.