Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Motives for Corporate Social Responsibility

  • Published:
De Economist Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In this article we analyze the motives of executives to take responsibility for the labor, environmental and social aspects of their business. We distinguish three motives: one extrinsic (financial) and two intrinsic (ethical and altruistic) motives and empirically investigate the influences of these motives on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by means of a sample of 473 executives. The estimation results show that for social aspects of CSR, executives are significantly more driven by intrinsic motives than by the extrinsic motive. But also for environmental aspects of CSR intrinsic motives provide stronger stimulus than the extrinsic motive.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Agle B. R., VanBuren H. J. III (1999) God and mammon: The modern relationship. Business Ethics Quarterly 9: 563–582

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Angelidis J., Ibrahim N. (2004) An exploratory study of the impact of degree of religiousness upon an individual’s corporate social responsiveness orientation. Journal of Business Ethics 51: 119–128

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Araña J. E., León C. J. (2009) The role of environmental management in consumers preferences for corporate social responsibility. Environmental Resource Economics 44: 495–506

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Armstrong J. C., Overton T. S. (1977) Estimating nonresponse bias in mail surveys. Journal of Marketing Research 14: 396–402

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aupperle K. E., Carroll A. B., Hatfield J. D. (1985) An empirical investigation of the relationship between corporate social responsibility and profitability. Academy of Management Journal 28: 446–463

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernard H. R. (2000) Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. SAGE, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowles S. (1998) Endogenous preferences: The cultural consequences of markets and other economic institutions. Journal of Economic Literature XXXVI: 75–111

    Google Scholar 

  • Brønn P. S., Vidaver-Cohen D. (2009) Corporate motives for social iniative: Legitamcy, sustainability or the bottom line?. Journal of Business Ethics 87: 91–109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown T. J., Dacin P. A. (1997) The company and the product: Corporate associations and consumer product responses. Journal of Marketing 61: 68–84

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell J. L. (2007) Why would corporations behave in socially responsible ways? An institutional theory of corporate social responsibility. Academy of Management Review 32: 946–967

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cañón-de-Francia J., Garcés-Ayerbe C. (2009) ISO 14001 environmental certification: A sign valued by the market?. Environmental Resource Economics 44: 245–262

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carroll A. B. (1999) Corporate social responsibility: Evolution of a definitional construct. Business & Society 38: 268–295

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elkington J. (1997) Cannibals with forks: The triple bottom line of 21st century business. Capstone, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Etzioni A. (1988) The moral dimension: Towards a new economics. The Free Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • European Commission. (2001). A sustainable Europe for a better world: A European Union strategy for sustainable development. Brussels: COM 264 final.

  • European Commission. (2002). European SMES and social and environmental responsibility. Observatory of European SMEs no. 4.

  • Filbeck G., Gorman R. F. (2004) The relationship between the environmental and financial performance of public utilities. Environmental and Resource Economics 29: 137–157

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fombrun C., Shanley M. (1990) What’s in a name? Reputation building and corporate strategy. Academy of Management Journal 33: 233–258

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frey B. S., Oberholzer-Gee F. (1997) The costs of price incentives: An empirical analysis of motivation crowding out. American Economic Review 87: 746–755

    Google Scholar 

  • Frey B. (1998) Not just for the money: An economic theory of personal motivation. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham

    Google Scholar 

  • Frey B. S., Jegen R. (2001) Motivation crowding theory. Journal of Economic Surveys 15: 589–611

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Friedman, M. (1970). The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. The New York Times Magazine 13, September.

  • Fuijii E. T., Hennesy M., Mak J. (1985) An evaluation of the validity, reliability of survey response data on household electricity conservation. Evaluation Review 9: 93–104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Galaskiewicz J., Colman M. S. (2006) Collaboration between corporations and nonprofit organizations. In: Powell W. W., Steinberg R. (eds) The non-profit sector: A research handbook. Yale University Press, New Haven

    Google Scholar 

  • Gardberg N., Fombrun C. F. (2006) Corporate citizenship: Creating intangible assets across institutional environments. Academy of Management Review 31: 329–346

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gatersleben B., Steg L., Vlek C. (2002) Measurement and determinants of environmentally significant consumer behavior. Environment and Behavior 34: 335–362

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gneezy U., Rustichini A. (2000) Pay enough, or don’t pay at all. Quarterly Journal of Economics 115: 791–810

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Graafland J. J., Eijffinger S. C. W. (2004) Corporate social responsibility of Dutch companies: Benchmarking, transparency and robustness. De Economist 152: 403–426

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Graafland J., van deVen B. (2006) Strategic and moral motivation for corporate social responsibility. Journal of Corporate Citizenship 22: 111–123

    Google Scholar 

  • Hair, J. F., Anderson, R. E., & Black, W. C. (1998). Multivariate data analyses. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

  • Hambrick D. C., Mason P. A. (1984) Upper echelons: The organization as a reflection of its top managers. Academy of Management Review 9: 193–206

    Google Scholar 

  • Hemingway C. A., Maclagan P. W. (2004) Managers’ personal values as drivers of corporate social responsibility. Journal of Business Ethics 50: 33–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones T. M., Wicks A. C. (1999) Convergent stakeholder theory. Academy of Management Review 24: 206–221

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaiser F., Wölfing S., Fuhrer U. (1999) Environmental attitude and ecological behavior. Journal of Environmental Psychology 19: 1–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy E. J., Lawton L. (1998) Religiousness and business ethics. Journal of Business Ethics 17: 163–175

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lepoutre J., Heene H. (2006) Investigating the impact of firms size on small business social responsibility: A critical review. Journal of Business Ethics 67: 257–273

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lindgreen A., Swaen V., Johnston W. J. (2009) Corporate social responsibility: An empirical investigation of US organizations. Journal of Business Ethics 85: 303–323

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loe T. W., Ferrell L., Mansfield P. (2000) A review of empirical studies assessing ethical decision making in business. Journal of Business Ethics 24: 185–204

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lougee B. A., Wallace J. S. (2008) The corporate social responsibility (CSR) trend. Journal of Applied Corporate Finance 20: 96–108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matten D., Moon J. (2008) “Implicit” and “explicit”CSR: A conceptual framework for a comparative understanding of corporate social responsibility. The Academy of Management Review 33: 404–424

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McWilliams A., Siegel D. (2001) Corporate social responsibility and financial performance: Correlation or misspecification?. Strategic Management Journal 21: 603–609

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miles M. P., Covin J. G. (2000) Environmental marketing: A source of reputational, competitive, and financial advantage. Journal of Business Ethics 23: 299–311

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MSCI. (2011). MSCI ESG STATS user guide & ESG ratings definition, MSCI ESG Research, June 2011.

  • Murillo D., Lozano J. (2006) SMEs and CSR: An approach to CSR in their own words. Journal of Business Ethics 67: 227–240

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orlitzky M., Schmidt F. L., Rynes S. L. (2003) Corporate social and financial performance: A meta-analysis. Organization Studies 24: 403–441

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parkhe A. (1993) Strategic alliance structuring: A game theoretic and transaction cost examination of interfirm cooperation. Academy of Management Journal 36: 794–829

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Podsakoff P. M., Mackenzie S. B., Lee J. Y., Podsakoff N. P. (2003) Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology 88: 879–903

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Posnikoff J. F. (1997) Disinvestment from South Africa: They did well by doing good. Contemporary Economic Policy 15: 76–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rabin M. (1998) Psychology and economics. Journal of Economic Literature 36: 11–46

    Google Scholar 

  • Ribar D. C., Wilhelm M. O. (2002) Altruistic and joy-of-giving motivations in charitable behavior. Journal of Political Economy 110: 425–457

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sims R. L., Keon T. L. (1997) Ethical work climate as a factor in the development of person-organization fit. Journal of Business Ethics 16: 1095–1105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Social Economic Council. (2001). Corporate social responsibility. Van Gorcum, Assen.

  • Telle K. (2006) “It pays to be green”—A premature conclusion?. Environmental and Resource Economics 35: 195–220

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Treviño L. K., Weaver G. R. (2003) Managing ethics in business organizations: Social scientific perspectives. Stanford University Press, Stanford

    Google Scholar 

  • Tudway R., Pascal A. M. (2006) Corporate governance, shareholder value and societal expectations. Corporate Governance 6: 305–316

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turban D. B., Greening D. W. (1996) Corporate social performance and organizational attractiveness to prospective employees. Academy of Management Journal 40: 658–672

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Valentine S., Fleischman G. (2008) Ethics programs, perceived corporate social responsibility and job satisfaction. Journal of Business Ethics 77: 159–172

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van den Belt, Th., & Moret, J. P. (2010). Management en levensbeschouwing in Nederland: een onderzoek naar opvattingen van managers in Nederland over de stijl van leidinggeven en HRM-beleid in relatie tot hun levensbeschouwing Beltom Advies, Barneveld.

  • Van Beurden P., Gössling T. (2008) The worth of values—A literature review on the relation between corporate social and financial performance. Journal of Business Ethics 82: 407–424

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waddock S. A., Graves S. B. (1997) The corporate social performance-financial performance link. Strategic Management Journal 18: 303–319

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warriner G. K., McDougall G. H., Claxton J. D. (1984) Any data or none at all? Living with inaccuracies in self-reports of residential energy consumption. Environment and Behavior 6: 503–526

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Werbel J. D., Carter S. M. (2002) The CEO’s influence on corporate foundation giving. Journal of Business Ethics 40: 47–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White M. D. (2004) Can homo economicus follow Kant’s categorical imperative?. The Journal of Socio-Economics 33: 89–106

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, Tilburg University, P.O. Box 90153, 5000 LE, Tilburg, The Netherlands

    Johan Graafland

  2. Department of Philosophy, Tilburg University, P.O. Box 90153, 5000 LE, Tilburg, The Netherlands

    Corrie Mazereeuw-Van der Duijn Schouten

Authors
  1. Johan Graafland
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Corrie Mazereeuw-Van der Duijn Schouten
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Johan Graafland.

Additional information

The authors thank the editor and two anonymous referees for their useful comments on an earlier version of this paper.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Graafland, J., Mazereeuw-Van der Duijn Schouten, C. Motives for Corporate Social Responsibility. De Economist 160, 377–396 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10645-012-9198-5

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10645-012-9198-5

Keywords

JEL Classifications

Search

Navigation