Premium
Strategic CSR: A Concept Building Meta‐Analysis
Author(s) -
Vishwanathan Pushpika,
van Oosterhout Hans J.,
Heugens Pursey P. M. A. R.,
Duran Patricio,
Essen Marc
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of management studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.398
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1467-6486
pISSN - 0022-2380
DOI - 10.1111/joms.12514
Subject(s) - corporate social responsibility , conceptualization , empirical research , business , stakeholder , reputation , stakeholder theory , public relations , political science , computer science , philosophy , epistemology , artificial intelligence , law
This study develops the concept of Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility (Strategic CSR) by meta‐analyzing the available empirical evidence on the relationship between CSR and corporate financial performance (CFP). Using meta‐analytic structural equation modeling on effect size data from 344 primary studies, our study documents four empirical mechanisms explaining how CSR positively affects CFP: by 1) enhancing firm reputation, 2) increasing stakeholder reciprocation, 3) mitigating firm risk, and 4) strengthening innovation capacity. We propose these four mechanisms to identify four causally relevant attributes that allow us to conceptually distinguish Strategic CSR from CSR more generally. Our findings indicate that the four mechanisms combined explain 20 per cent of the CSR‐CFP relationship, suggesting that considerable room remains for future empirical research. The development of an empirically informed, causal conceptualization of Strategic CSR responds to a long‐heard call for better‐specified concepts in empirical CSR research.