**6. Limitation and Future Research**

This study has several limitations, which should be considered when evaluating the results. The study sample is based on firms listed in the Thomson Reuters EIKON database whose shares are traded in stock markets. Consequently, the results may not be generalizable to other firms not listed in a stock market. As far as we know, no previous studies on this topic focus on a sample of international firms. Our research contrasts with past research conducted in individual countries. Since the studied sector comprises large capital-intensive businesses, frequently operating as natural monopolies on national markets, choosing a single jurisdiction for analysis would not yield sufficient empirical material for quantitative analysis.

On the other hand, it would be interesting to undertake future research, including a complete sample to consistently support our hypotheses. A comparative analysis between countries in different cultural and geographical areas could generate an interesting line of future research. We also believe that interesting conclusions could be drawn by introducing various control variables into the analysis. Therefore, in future research, it would be worth also focusing on the relationship between financial performance and CSR, considering the control variables. The possible channels through which FP could affect CSR, or vice versa, could be the location of the firms, corporate governance, corporate visibility, the role of board diligence and the CSR committee, the gender of the director, corporate governance mechanisms, and the location of the firms.

In our study, we used only accounting-based indicators. We chose the six accounting variables presented in this paper because they permitted us, on the one hand, and were more appropriate for detection rather than market measures, on the other hand. According to some researchers, market results may be an interesting factor in assessing and understanding CSR implementation, which could be checked in subsequent studies.

To analyze the indicators affecting CSR adoption, we used the binary logit regression model. The dependent variable (CSR adoption) was a binary variable reaching the value 1 (company adopted CSR) or 0 (the company did not adopt CSR). The logit model, based on the cumulative logistic probability functions, was computationally easier to use and could predict the probability of CSR adoption in the company. Another widely recognized alternative approach to the analysis of CSR adoption was the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) score measure, used with a linear regression model. The study of the degree of applicability of CSR implementation was also a possible extension of future work.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, M.C. and M.K.-A.; methodology, M.C. and M.K.-A.; validation, M.C. and M.K.-A.; formal analysis, M.C. and M.K.-A.; investigation, M.C. and M.K.-A.; resources, M.C. and M.K.-A.; data curation, M.C.; writing—original draft preparation, M.C. and M.K.- A.; writing—review and editing, M.C. and M.K.-A.; visualization, M.C. and M.K.-A.; supervision, M.C. and M.K.-A.; project administration, M.C. and M.K.-A.; funding acquisition, M.K.-A. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable. **Data Availability Statement:** The data are available at the Thomson Reuters Eikon database and require a Thomson Reuters Eikon account login.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
