*2.1. Data and Sample*

This study uses non-probability sampling with a purposive sampling method which determines research samples using defined criteria. The criteria used by researchers for sampling are as follows: public companies from the energy sector listed in the Thomson Reuters Eikon (TR EIKON) database in 2020 who have a number of full-time employees higher than 150 with complete financial and non-financial data related to the research variables. We made this choice based on the assumptions that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) was associated mainly with big companies; they are often better resourced and are more able to invest in CSR. They attract more media attention, and they are particularly concerned with protecting and enhancing their reputations with the broader public and key stakeholders. The coverage of the TR EIKON database extends worldwide, reaching 99% of the market capitalization. The database contains more than 72,000 firm-level data of publicly traded companies from 150 countries. TR EIKON provides company fundamentals also published for the energy sector, including companies that produce, supply, and distribute energy. The analysis covered 219 companies from 32 countries (Table 1).


**Table 1.** The number of analyzed firms by country.


**Table 1.** *Cont.*

As can be seen from Table 1, most of the firms covered by the analysis have their headquarters in the USA (41.10%), Canada (17.35%), and China (7.31%). The headquarters of almost 13% of the analyzed companies are in Europe. The majority of countries (18) are represented only by one company.
