Amsterdam School of International Business

Overlooked goliaths

business associations in international CSR governance

Chapter

This chapter calls for greater scholarly attention to business association initiatives in international corporate social responsibility (CSR) governance.

Economic globalization has led to the proliferation of private governance initiatives created to address social and environmental issues. Most existing scholarship has focused on those created by multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs), an organizational form of CSR coalition driven by NGOs. Yet growing empirical evidence suggests that in most global industries, CSR initiatives created by a different type of coalition, led and composed exclusively by businesses, appears to dwarf MSIs in scale, scope, and influence.

More research is needed to examine these overlooked goliaths, particularly their antecedents, organizational and governance forms, and effects on global CSR outcomes. Management and international business scholars are particularly well positioned to contribute new insights on this important phenomenon.

Reference Marques, J. C., Litrico, J.-B., & van Wijk, J. (2023). Overlooked goliaths: business associations in international CSR governance. In A. Goerzen (Ed.), Research Handbook on International Corporate Social Responsibility (pp. 284-301). (Research Handbooks in Business and Management series). Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd.. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781802207040.00026
Published by  Centre for Economic Transformation 1 January 2023

Publication date

Jan 2023

Author(s)

José Carlos Marques
Jean-Baptiste Litrico

Publications:

Research database