Does Hypercompetition Foster Corporate Social Responsibility? A Research Framework of the Hypercompetitive Effects on ESG Performance

Annesofie Lindskov*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingBook chapterResearchpeer-review

Abstract

Does hypercompetition leave any room for corporate social responsibility (CSR) and how would we test this empirically? Although the majority of CSR scholars stress that firms can profit from CSR initiatives, how competition affects a firm’s CSR effort or environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance remains largely understudied. Based on the theory of hypercompetition and the slack resources perspective, I propose some thoughts on how hypercompetitive industry conditions, such as a low environmental munificence, may affect a firm’s ESG performance. Hypercompetition can also create a resource allocation tension, where firms must choose between focusing on increasing their competitive actions or seeking new growth opportunities through CSR activities. Consequently, hypercompetition can polarize industries with regard to their ESG performance, where many high and low ESG-performers may appear compared to middle ESG-performers. However, the current data limitations of firms’ CSR data make it difficult to accurately measure the impact of hypercompetition on firms’ ESG performance.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationMeasuring Sustainability and CSR : From Reporting to Decision-Making
EditorsSlobodan Kacanski, Johannes Kabderian Dreyer, Kristian J. Sund
Number of pages12
PublisherSpringer Science+Business Media
Publication date2023
Pages197-208
ISBN (Print)978-3-031-26958-5
ISBN (Electronic)978-3-031-26959-2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023
SeriesEthical Economy
Volume64
ISSN2211-2707

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