The Business Case for Corporate Social Responsibility: A Review of Concepts, Research and Practice

In this review, the primary subject is the 'business case' for corporate social responsibility (CSR). The business case refers to the underlying arguments or rationales supporting or documenting why the business community should accept and advance the CSR 'cause'. The business case is concerned with the primary question: What do the business community and organizations get out of CSR? That is, how do they benefit tangibly from engaging in CSR policies, activities and practices? The business case refers to the bottom-line financial and other reasons for businesses pursuing CSR strategies and policies. In developing this business case, the paper first provides some historical background and perspective. In addition, it provides a brief discussion of the evolving understandings of CSR and some of the long-established, traditional arguments that have been made both for and against the idea of business assuming any responsibility to society beyond profit-seeking and maximizing its own financial well-being. Finally, the paper addresses the business case in more detail. The goal is to describe and summarize what the business case means and to review some of the concepts, research and practice that have come to characterize this developing idea.     

媒体关注下的CSR信息披露与企业财务绩效关系研究及启示——基于我国A股上市公司CSR报告的实证研究

企业社会责任(CSR)及信息披露已成为当前社会各界共同关注的热点问题。本文利用独立机构发布的我国A股上市公司CSR报告的评级数据,验证了当前时代背景下我国企业社会责任信息披露与企业财务绩效的关系,以及作为信息传递媒介和"公众日程设置者"的媒体的关注对于二者关系的影响作用。研究发现,高水平披露社会责任信息的企业的绩效明显高于低水平企业,但是这种作用关系是在媒体关注度这一变量的完全中介作用之下实现的。这一新发现不仅丰富和拓展了企业社会责任及信息披露的理论研究框架,对于基于战略性CSR思维制定相关战略的企业管理者也深具启发意义。     

企业社会责任与企业伦理关系分析

企业社会责任与企业伦理是何关系既是一个理论问题,也是一个现实问题。跳出仅仅从概念视角分析文献中实际采用的定义的局限,提出“3+2”的分析框架,即从三个视角(基本概念、学科领域和社会运动)、两个层面(现实层面和理论层面)分析企业社会责任和企业伦理的关系。分析表明:企业社会责任概念与企业伦理概念之间的关系,不同于企业社会责任领域与企业伦理领域之间的关系,也不同于企业社会责任运动与企业伦理运动之间的关系;同样是企业社会责任和企业伦理概念之间、领域之间和运动之间的关系,现实层面的关系和理论层面的关系也有差异;企业社会责任和企业伦理既非互不相干,亦非完全等同,也不是简单的一个包含另一个的关系,而是既有区别,又有联系的关系。     

Beyond (But Including) the CEO: Diffusing Corporate Social Responsibility throughout the Organization through Social Networks

Chief Executive Officers and other organizational leaders can affect how corporate social responsibility initiatives are perceived in their organizations. However, in order to be successful with regard to promoting CSR, leaders need to have strong network competencies and to move beyond charismatic leadership. In this paper we offer a critique of charismatic leadership as it relates to CSR, posit that the intellectual stimulation brought about by transformational leadership is more important in this regard, propose that internal and networking is a leadership competence highly relevant to CSR, and emphasize the importance of working through highly credible opinion leaders in promoting CSR.     

Must Milton Friedman Embrace Stakeholder Theory?

Milton Friedman famously stated that the only social responsibility of business is to increase its profits, a position now known as the shareholder model of business. Subsequently, the stakeholder model, associated with Edward Freeman, has been widely seen as a heuristically stronger theory of the responsibilities of the firm to the society in which it is situated. Friedman's position, nevertheless, has retained currency among many business thinkers. In this article, we argue that Friedman's economic writings assume an economy in which businesses operate under the protections of limited liability, which allows corporations to privatize their gains while externalizing their losses. By accepting limited liability, Friedman must also accept a view of business as embedded in social interdependency, which serves as the logical and moral foundation for corporate social responsibility (CSR). To achieve consistency with his economic principles, Friedman must either abandon limited liability or modify his doctrine on CSR and his related shareholder model of business.     

Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting as Substantive and Symbolic Behavior: A Multilevel Theoretical Analysis

This article describes a multilevel theoretical framework that examines the multiple causes of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting in the social environment of business. We argue that substantive and/or symbolic reporting flows from individual‐, aggregate‐, organizational‐, and institution‐level phenomena, and is thus a complex outcome of CSR and corporate social performance (CSP). Theoretical lenses range from reinforcement theory at the microlevel to legitimacy and stakeholder theories at the macrolevel, and include a discussion of the emergence of lower‐level CSR‐relevant characteristics to higher level constructs. Our goal is to clarify how this behavior develops from microlevel, mesolevel, and macrolevel processes with a view toward assisting corporations to better enact CSR reporting, and their stakeholders to effectively promote substantive reporting behavior.     

不同权力结构下供应链企业社会责任激励

本文以单个供应商和单个零售商组成的两级供应链为对象,假设仅考虑供应商对产品安全方面的社会责任,研究了在供应商主导和零售商主导两种权力配置模式下,供应商履行社会责任程度的差异,以及如何在供应商和零售商间建立合理的契约以激励供应商社会责任的履行。研究发现,相对供应商主导,在零售商主导下供应商会更多地履行社会责任。引入收入共享的事后契约和成本共担的事前契约后,在供应商主导下,两种契约在一定条件下均能有效地激励供应商更好地履行社会责任,但在留存比例与分担比例相等的条件下,成本共担契约的激励效应更强。在零售商主导下,收入共享契约虽能激励供应商的社会责任履行,但因导致零售商的利润下降,故无法达成,而成本共担契约只有在分担足够大时才有激励效应。     

Sustaining the Financial Value of Global CSR: Reconciling Corporate and Stakeholder Interests in a Less Regulated Environment

In this article we examine the association between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and firm value. This line of research is important since firms continue to invest in CSR even though past studies reveal a limited linkage between financial value and CSR. However, the business case for CSR or “doing good while making a profit,” appears to be advancing within the business ethics literature as a preferred conception of CSR. We conjecture that the greater unification and refinement of both profit maximization and stakeholder interests through corporate acts, not statements alone, will sustain the financial value of CSR in a less regulated global business environment. We study the triangle of what companies say, what companies do, and firm financial performance. We analyze Fortune 250 firms and find a positive association between what companies do based on KLD Research and Analytics, Inc. (KLD) ratings, and what companies state about ethics in their CSR statements. We then employ regression analysis and find that companies’ socially responsible acts are positively associated with overall firm value and financial performance. Yet we do not find a statistically significant association between what companies say regarding ethics in their CSR statements and their financial outcomes. These results suggest that firm value and financial performance is associated with what companies do and not what they say. Our results seem to be driven by multinational corporations (MNCs) and not by non‐MNCs. This is possibly because MNCs generally operate in a less regulated global business environment that often necessitates strong ethical corporate leadership to further stakeholder interests. Overall, these results help reconcile corporate and stakeholder objectives since evidence of a link between financial performance and doing good sustains global CSR.     

企业社会责任、媒体报道与股价崩盘风险

理论上企业披露社会责任信息既可能抑制股价崩盘风险,亦可能加剧股价崩盘风险;新闻媒体作为社会责任披露的重要载体在其中既可能弱化也可能强化这种影响,对这些问题的探讨是近年来公司金融领域研究的热点,但学者对当前的研究结果尚存在较多争论。鉴于此,本文首先在理论上导出社会责任披露对股价崩盘风险的双向作用机制,然后引入新闻媒体研究其可能的传导途径。基于我国A股市场所有上市公司2010-2018年面板数据的研究结果显示：上市公司通过披露企业社会责任指数能够显著降低股价崩盘风险;企业履行社会责任会显著增加媒体报道的数量,而媒体报道数量增加能够显著抑制股价崩盘风险,即媒体报道在企业社会责任影响股价崩盘风险的过程中起到中介作用;进一步的拓展研究发现：企业社会责任指数中的股东责任对股价崩盘风险影响最大,而供应商、客户和消费者权益、社会责任的影响不显著;与中性媒体报道相比,正面媒体报道和负面媒体报道的中介作用效果更强。     

中国背景下CSR与消费者购买意向关系的实证研究

当今,积极的社会责任行为已经成为企业获得消费者认同和创造竞争优势的重要来源.尽管现有研究已经证实,企业社会责任对消费者的购买意向确实存在显著影响,但是对企业社会责任在消费者层面的影响机制、消费者对企业社会责任的心理反应等方面的研究仍十分有限,对这些问题的实证研究则更是缺乏.本文试图构建一个包含企业社会责任行为、良好公司声誉、消费者企业认同和消费者购买意向在内的概念模型,并通过结构方程模型方法对模型进行实证检验,以探索企业社会责任对消费者购买意向产生影响的内在机理.研究结果表明,企业社会责任行为不仅对消费者购买意向产生直接的正向影响,还可以通过良好的公司声誉和消费者对公司的认同感对消费者购买意向产生间接的正向影响,而且,间接作用的强度要远远大于直接作用;公司声誉和消费者企业认同是企业社会责任行为对消费者购买意向起影响作用的中介变量.     

Is CSR the panacea for SMEs? A study of socially responsible SMEs during economic crisis

There is increasing research attention as to how SMEs might realize corporate social responsibility opportunities. Most studies focus on the pursuance of responsible business strategies that result in favourable business outcomes. This study investigates SMEs who actively participate in CSR activities in a south-eastern European country during the economic crisis of the Eurozone. Data collected reveals that stakeholder salience and proximity moderate the relationship between CSR and financial performance. The context of this study is important as it addresses the paucity of research carried out in countries during economic crisis and sheds light on the positive aspects of CSR practices adopted during crisis.     

Corporate social responsibility reporting and firm performance: evidence from China

A series of product safety and child labor scandals in the mid-2000s aroused global concerns over business ethics and corporate social responsibility (CSR) in China. The general public expects companies to be socially responsible and to look beyond the maximizing of profits. In this study, we examine the relationship between the issuance of CSR reports and performance, in terms of accounting income, market return, and growth by firms listed in China in 2008–2009. We find that the historical performance of firms has significant and positive effects on the issuance of standalone CSR reports. There is also a positive correlation between current CSR disclosures and subsequent performance. Finally, we find that corporate donations are positively associated with improved performance in the following year. Our results support the view that CSR is a useful business strategy even in a developing country such as China. We call for government authorities in emerging markets to advocate CSR practices and for the market participants to change their perception of and attitude towards CSR.     

We Are the Corporation: Dispersive CSR

We contend that the current trend of emphasis on corporate social responsibility (CSR) serves to divert the public's attention from the real ethical issues facing business and society. We extend the scope of social responsibility beyond business corporations to include a range of institutions. We also propose that CSRs be reconceptualized in terms of the ways that managers enable stakeholders to hold themselves and each other responsible for the ways their actions affect each other as they conduct business through the firm. In this article, we propose a new view of corporations and responsibility that reconstrues behavior currently referred to as CSR. Starting with an overview of theories of the firm, we show that the way in which a firm is conceived yields different views on CSR. A shortcoming of the theory of the firm approach to CSR is that it leads us to focus excessively on business corporations at the expense of a broader analysis of other institutional players. These theories also tend to emphasize the obligations of corporations to people rather than of people to each other. We propose that social responsibility be viewed through a systems theory paradigm instead. We then argue that corporations should be construed in terms of the people who impact them. We advance a different conception of business responsibility that is more comprehensive, inclusive, and systemic.     

CSR投入下产品质量决策与专利授权合同设计

良好的专利授权有助于激发企业持续创新的动力,实现专利技术的商业化和产业化,而产品质量则是决定企业能否取得市场竞争优势的关键。本文针对由专利持有企业和品牌企业组成的系统,考虑市场需求信息不对称以及品牌企业承担社会责任（Corporate social responsibility, CSR）,研究品牌企业产品质量决策和专利授权合同设计问题,进而分析CSR投入对各个企业利润、消费者剩余以及社会福利的影响。研究结果表明：不同市场条件下,专利持有企业会策略性地设计专利授权合同形式,即选择仅包含"一次性固定授权费"或者"一次性固定授权费+版税提成"的专利授权合同;品牌企业CSR投入并不会影响专利授权合同的形式,但会提高一次性固定授权费;CSR投入会促使品牌企业提高产品质量,但并不一定会导致产品销售价格的提高;CSR投入虽然会降低品牌企业利润,但能有效提升专利持有企业利润、消费者剩余和社会福利。     

Drivers of Corporate Social Responsibility: the Role of Formal Strategic Planning and Firm Culture

Scholars have paid considerable attention to studying the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and firm performance. Yet, little empirical research demonstrates what actually shapes or drives CSR. This paper builds a case that formal strategic planning is one such driver in that it creates awareness of and formulates responses to stakeholder demands for CSR. However, exploring single variable relationships is problematic, as other important endogenous factors need to be considered in explaining CSR. Specifically, firm culture is identified as influencing a firm's orientation towards the responsible treatment of stakeholders. One such cultural factor, humanistic culture, is argued to have a positive effect on CSR. By studying a sample of heterogeneous firms in Australia, results demonstrate that a formal strategic planning effort is positively linked to CSR. Further, a humanistic culture positively impacts CSR, after accounting for a firm's formal planning efforts.     

Drivers of Corporate Social Responsibility Attitudes: The Demography of Socially Responsible Investors

Demographic characteristics of socially responsible investors (SRIs) are likely to play a significant role in shaping their perceptions and behaviour concerning corporate social responsibility (CSR). This paper identifies demographic characteristics of SRIs and explores the relationship of these characteristics with their CSR attitudes. We analyse, using generalized ordered logistic regression, the questionnaire responses of 2464 SRIs from 20 countries. The results demonstrate that younger and female SRIs are more likely to believe that a company's social and environmental performance is as important as its financial performance. Female SRIs and those with high incomes are the most likely to believe that companies should be as responsible to their shareholders as to the broader society. In addition, younger SRIs, those with high incomes and those who have attained higher education levels regard socially responsible companies as at least as profitable as other companies. The benefits which companies can derive from understanding the demographic profile of SRIs are examined, including a potentially lower cost of capital, improved CSR rankings and business policy formulation and communication consistent with CSR views held by specific groups of SRIs.     

基于社会网络视角的企业社会责任行为相似性研究

本文利用国泰安数据库和锐思数据库中2010年-2012年的我国上市公司管理层数据、公司财务数据,以及润灵环球责任评级2010年-2012年我国A股上市公司的企业社会责任评级数据,从社会网络的角度出发,探索我国上市公司社会责任履行行为的相似性。研究结果发现,公司之间存在的社会网络会造成企业社会责任履行行为具有一定的相似性。当企业越是处于核心地位,越是容易传播信息,控制能力越强的时候,该公司同与之相关联的公司在社会责任履行行为方面越是具有相似性。这一结论为改善我国企业社会责任履行现状提供了一个全新的思考方向。     

Corporate Social Responsibility through Cross‐sector Partnerships: Implications for Civil Society,the State,and the Corporate Sector in India

Corporations are increasingly forced to widen their agendas to include social and environmental concerns, or corporate social responsibility (CSR). This development has been recorded in the current academic debate, and the views regarding its implications for business, the state, and civil society diverge. However, there is agreement within the CSR and corporate governance literatures that there is a lack of thorough empirical studies of these effects. Based on a case study of the multinational wind energy company Suzlon Energy's CSR projects in rural India, this article contends that CSR projects implemented through cross‐sector partnerships can help to build the capacities of civil society organizations (CSOs). Although the risk of corporate steering of the civil society agenda is reduced when CSR prioritizes community needs over business imperatives, CSOs tend to bear the highest costs in partnerships, through credibility losses and insecurity concerning project terms and funding, reinforcing the importance of critical cooperation and complementary core competencies in cross‐sector partnerships. The results have implications for the strategies of corporations, CSOs, and governments as well as for the planning of national and international development aid.     

企业社会责任一致性对财务绩效的影响研究

基于工具性利益相关者理论,以A股上市公司为研究对象,考察了企业社会责任时间和结构这两类一致性对财务绩效的影响,并检验了信任因素在该过程的中介作用,以及企业社会责任水平和不同利益相关者关注的调节效应。研究表明:企业持续地承担社会责任(时间一致性)有助于提升财务绩效,而公平地承担社会责任(结构一致性)则对财务绩效有负面影响;信任因素是一致性和财务绩效之间的中介机制,“时间/结构一致性—信任—财务绩效”是社会责任发挥作用的逻辑路径之一;企业社会责任整体水平的提升将强化结构一致性的负面作用,而外部利益相关者中分析师的关注会强化时间一致性的积极影响;对于结构一致性而言,包括公众和分析师在内的外部利益相关者的关注会强化其负面影响,而内部独立董事的关注则有助于缓和这一负面影响。     

考虑CSR行为意识的闭环供应链运作与协调

在考虑制造商企业社会责任(CSR)行为意识及零售商CSR投入的情形下,研究第三方回收闭环供应链的运作及协调问题。分析了制造商的CSR行为意识与零售商的CSR投入之间的交互影响关系,以及二者对闭环供应链成员及整体绩效的影响。研究表明,制造商的CSR行为意识与零售商的CSR投入均有利于降低新产品批发价格、扩大新产品市场需求、提高废旧产品回收率,且二者具有相互激励的作用。虽然制造商的CSR行为意识会导致自身纯利润减少,但却能实现更大的社会福利、改善闭环供应链其他成员及整体的绩效。“收益共享-成本共担”契约不仅可以实现闭环供应链系统协调,还能促使制造商增强CSR行为意识、零售商提高CSR投入水平。