“Implicit” and “Explicit” Csr: a Conceptual Framework for a Comparative Understanding of Corporate Social Responsibility
Academy of Management Review 2008, Vol. 33, No. 2, 404–424.
“IMPLICIT” AND “EXPLICIT” CSR: A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR A COMPARATIVE UNDERSTANDING OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
DIRK MATTEN York University, Toronto JEREMY MOON University of Nottingham
We address the question of how and why corporate social responsibility (CSR) differs among countries and how and why it changes. Applying two schools of thought in institutional theory, we conceptualize, first, the differences between CSR in the United States and Europe and, second, the recent rise of CSR in Europe. We also delineate the potential of our framework for application to other parts of the global economy.
In this paper we address the question of why forms of business responsibility for society both differ among countries and change within them. We do so by comparative investigation of corporate social responsibility (CSR), historically and contemporarily, in the United States and in Europe.1 The paper is inspired by two commonplace observations. The first observation is that while many U.S. corporations have both been attributed, and ready to claim, social responsibilities, this has not been so common elsewhere. Comparative research in CSR between Europe and the United State has identified remarkable differences between companies on each side of the Atlantic. This pertains, first, to the language companies use in describing their involvement in society. In a comparative study of corporate self-presentaWe thank former associate editor Thomas Donaldson and the anonymous reviewers for their input and support in developing the manuscript. We acknowledge constructive comments from Eva Boxenbaum, Thomas Dunfee, JeanPascal Gond, and Atle Midttun on earlier versions. We have presented these ideas at conferences, workshops, and seminars too numerous to mention. We would like to thank all those who contributed to the development of our argument. 1 By Europe, we refer to Scandinavia, the Benelux countries,
“IMPLICIT” AND “EXPLICIT” CSR: A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR A COMPARATIVE UNDERSTANDING OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
DIRK MATTEN York University, Toronto JEREMY MOON University of Nottingham
We address the question of how and why corporate social responsibility (CSR) differs among countries and how and why it changes. Applying two schools of thought in institutional theory, we conceptualize, first, the differences between CSR in the United States and Europe and, second, the recent rise of CSR in Europe. We also delineate the potential of our framework for application to other parts of the global economy.
In this paper we address the question of why forms of business responsibility for society both differ among countries and change within them. We do so by comparative investigation of corporate social responsibility (CSR), historically and contemporarily, in the United States and in Europe.1 The paper is inspired by two commonplace observations. The first observation is that while many U.S. corporations have both been attributed, and ready to claim, social responsibilities, this has not been so common elsewhere. Comparative research in CSR between Europe and the United State has identified remarkable differences between companies on each side of the Atlantic. This pertains, first, to the language companies use in describing their involvement in society. In a comparative study of corporate self-presentaWe thank former associate editor Thomas Donaldson and the anonymous reviewers for their input and support in developing the manuscript. We acknowledge constructive comments from Eva Boxenbaum, Thomas Dunfee, JeanPascal Gond, and Atle Midttun on earlier versions. We have presented these ideas at conferences, workshops, and seminars too numerous to mention. We would like to thank all those who contributed to the development of our argument. 1 By Europe, we refer to Scandinavia, the Benelux countries,