CSR Conference

Call for Papers

On September 2018, California became the first state to require corporate boards of directors to include women. “The bill, which applies to companies ‘whose principal executive offices’ are in California, requires them to have at least one woman on their boards by the end of 2019”1. Although heavily debated, this decision to regulate added a west coast US state to a mainly European list of countries mandating quotas for women on boards that includes Norway (since 2003), Spain, Belgium, Finland, France and Italy (Terjessen & al., 2014). This shows how diverse approaches to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices and policies can be across the Atlantic, both inside the two continents and in comparison.

CSR has received significant scholarly attention in the past two decades. We now have a relatively advanced understanding of major aspects of the phenomenon, including antecedents and consequences of CSR engagement by companies (Yang & Rivers, 2009), CSR structures and strategies (McWilliams & al., 2006), or the dynamics of intra-organizational implementation of CSR (Lindgreen & al., 2009 ; Thauer, 2014)

However, there remains a dearth of research on how these aspects vary within and between countries and continents. Indeed, “comparative research in CSR between Europe and the United State has identified remarkable differences between companies on each side of the Atlantic” (Matten & Moon, 2008: 404). The political, legal, and business systems underlying CSR activities in the US and Europe can differ significantly (Kolk, 2008; Doh and Guay, 2006; Aguilera et al., 2006), leading to a diverse and rich landscape that still calls for further studies.

We welcome papers from a wide range of epistemological, conceptual and methodological backgrounds. We invite submissions that address, but are not restricted to, the following issues:

• Comparison of CSR practices, strategies and policies in the US and Europe
• The intra-and-inter organizational factors influencing CSR activities and how they differ across countries
• The lived experience of actors in charge of CSR implementation within the organization and how they live differently in the US and Europe
• Differential impact on financial performance of CSR activities in the US and Europe
• Differences in mandated and/or voluntary sustainability disclosure across countries.
• The relationship of CSR and corporate governance in the US and Europe
• The relationship of carbon trading and prices to CSR in US and European markets
• The role of Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) practices and impact on CSR outcomes in the US and Europe
• Differences between CSR policies and practices in the maritime industry across the US and Europe.

Papers should be submitted to CSRConference@umb.edu by March 31, 2019. Decision and feedbacks will be communicated by April 7, 2019. For more information about the conference:  https://business.umb.edu/docto...

1 Matt Stevens, California’s Publicly Held Corporations Will Have to Include Women on Their Boards. The New York Times (Sept. 30, 2018).

References:

Aguilera, Williams, Conley & Rupp (2006). Corporate governance and social responsibility: A comparative analysis of the UK and the US. Corporate Governance, 14 (3)..

Doh, & Guay (2006) Corporate social responsibility, public policy, and NGO activism in Europe and the United States. Journal of Management Studies, 43(1), pp.47-73.

Kolk (2008) Sustainability, accountability and corporate governance: exploring multinationals' reporting practices. Business Strategy and the Environment, 17(1), pp.1-15.

Lindgreen, A., Swaen, V., & Maon, F. (2009). Introduction: Corporate social responsibility implementation. Journal of Business Ethics, 85(2), 251-256.

Matten & Moon (2008). “Implicit” and “explicit” CSR: A conceptual framework for a comparative understanding of CSR. Academy of Management Review, 33(2), 404-424.

McWilliams, A., Siegel, D. S., & Wright, P. M. (2006). Corporate social responsibility: Strategic implications. Journal of Management Studies, 43(1), 1-18.

Terjesen, Aguilera & Lorenz (2015). Legislating a woman’s seat on the board. Journal of Business Ethics, 128(2).

Thauer, C. R. (2014). Goodness comes from within: Intra-organizational dynamics of corporate social responsibility. Business & Society, 53(4), 483-516.

Yang & Rivers (2009). Antecedents of CSR practices in MNCs’ subsidiaries: A stakeholder and institutional perspective. Journal of Business Ethics, 86(2), 155-169.