This study examines the impact of stakeholder engagement in the form of controlling shareholders on the corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance of firms using data from 25 countries. The results show that there is a positive relation between state‐controlled ownership and the CSR performance of firms, whereas the other types of controlling ownership have no impact on CSR performance. Further results show that evidence is more pronounced in countries with more stakeholder engagement. Additional analysis indicates that the change of state controlled firms leads to a change in CSR performance, but not vice versa. Taken together, this paper highlights the importance of governmental ownership in shaping firms' corporate social responsibility performance in an international context. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment