TY - JOUR
T1 - Technological competition, innovation motive and corporate social responsibility
T2 - Evidence from top managers of European SMEs
AU - Graafland, Johan
AU - Noorderhaven, Niels
PY - 2020/3
Y1 - 2020/3
N2 - Various motives have been proposed for firms to engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR), but no attention has been paid to innovation as a motive to engage in CSR. In this paper we explore the role of this motive and hypothesize that it is particularly important for companies facing intensive technological competition. We find support for this in a sample of 2579 top managers of small and medium sized enterprises from 12 European countries. The innovation motive mediates the relationship between technological competition and CSR and is the most (second most) important motive for environmental and social CSR, respectively.
AB - Various motives have been proposed for firms to engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR), but no attention has been paid to innovation as a motive to engage in CSR. In this paper we explore the role of this motive and hypothesize that it is particularly important for companies facing intensive technological competition. We find support for this in a sample of 2579 top managers of small and medium sized enterprises from 12 European countries. The innovation motive mediates the relationship between technological competition and CSR and is the most (second most) important motive for environmental and social CSR, respectively.
KW - corporate social responsibility
KW - innovation motivation
KW - SMEs
KW - technological competition
U2 - 10.1007/s10645-019-09351-z
DO - 10.1007/s10645-019-09351-z
M3 - Article
VL - 168
SP - 1
EP - 22
JO - De Economist: Tijdschrift voor alle standen, tot bevordering van volkswelvaart, door verspreiding van eenvoudige beginselen van staatshuishoudkunde
JF - De Economist: Tijdschrift voor alle standen, tot bevordering van volkswelvaart, door verspreiding van eenvoudige beginselen van staatshuishoudkunde
SN - 0013-063X
IS - 1
ER -