Political Corporate Social Responsibility: The Role of Deliberative Capacity

Journal of International Business Studies

37 Pages Posted: 30 Aug 2022 Last revised: 7 Mar 2023

See all articles by Richard W. Carney

Richard W. Carney

China Europe International Business School (CEIBS)

Sadok El Ghoul

University of Alberta - Campus Saint-Jean

Omrane Guedhami

University of South Carolina - Moore School of Business

Jane Lu

University of Melbourne

He (Helen) Wang

West Virginia University - Department of Finance

Date Written: August 22, 2022

Abstract

With an emphasis on deliberative processes that occur between managers and stakeholders, the political corporate social responsibility (PCSR) literature has made important advances to our understanding of CSR activities. However, these contributions have tended to focus exclusively on organizational settings. We contend an understanding of firm-level CSR is incomplete without considering the interrelations between organizations and the wider socio-political environment. Building on work in comparative politics about formal and informal institutions, we posit that firm-level CSR will rise as the deliberative capacity of political institutions increases. The term deliberative capacity refers to the capacity of political institutions to enable diverse stakeholders to collectively assemble and voice their opinions. Findings from our analysis of 21,941 firm-year observations, comprising 3,563 unique firms from 34 countries over the 2005–2017 period, suggest that the deliberative capacity of formal and informal institutions not only enhances firm-level CSR activities independently but also complements the deliberative processes at an organizational level in promoting CSR.

Keywords: formal institutions; informal institutions; political institutions; deliberative democracy; corporat

Suggested Citation

Carney, Richard W. and El Ghoul, Sadok and Guedhami, Omrane and Lu, Jane and Wang, He, Political Corporate Social Responsibility: The Role of Deliberative Capacity (August 22, 2022). Journal of International Business Studies, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4196275 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4196275

Richard W. Carney

China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) ( email )

Shanghai-Hongfeng Road
Shanghai 201206
Shanghai 201206
China

Sadok El Ghoul (Contact Author)

University of Alberta - Campus Saint-Jean ( email )

Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2R3
Canada
780-465-8725 (Phone)
780-465-8760 (Fax)

Omrane Guedhami

University of South Carolina - Moore School of Business ( email )

Columbia, SC
United States

Jane Lu

University of Melbourne ( email )

185 Pelham Street
Carlton, Victoria 3053
Australia

He Wang

West Virginia University - Department of Finance ( email )

Morgantown, WV 26506
United States

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