Corporate social responsibility and innovative capacity: Intersection in a macro-level perspective

This study explores the link between macro (country-level) corporate social responsibility penetration and innovative capacity presenting new findings on the potential influence that various elements shaping innovation have on the endorsement of social responsibility among national business systems. Relying on cross-sectional data, a composite index for quantifying the proliferation of corporate social responsibility is employed and well-established innovation metrics are utilized. Findings do not contradict the preceding but limited evidence on corporate social responsibility practices considering innovation, nevertheless, the negative relationships found in our empirically supported and internally consistent proposed models merit supplementary consideration and examination. The paper offers new insights to innovation theorists and political economy researchers for more detailed investigations of critical drivers, such as innovation, which shape country-level corporate social responsibility specificities of and potentially encapsulate a critical parameter in the self-regulation agenda-setting of business entities. In these lines the study indicates that innovation, as moderator of corporate social responsibility adoption, has to be included in empirical models where measures of corporate social responsibility penetration and innovative potential are employed.