Are Members of Business for Social Responsibility More Socially Responsible?

This study examines the association between corporate social performance (CSP) practices and membership in Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) between 1992 and 2006. BSR is a business association that seeks to help its members adopt enhanced CSP practices. While there is an emerging literature examining voluntary initiatives as alternative policy mechanisms to regulations, most research is focused on initiatives that emphasize environmental protection. Further, studies suggest that membership in strictly voluntary initiatives tends to be associated with lower environmental performance because of "free-riding" behavior by participants. BSR differs along two dimensions when compared with other voluntary initiatives examined in the literature. First, it is a comprehensive voluntary social initiative that helps firms from diverse industries address multiple CSP issues simultaneously. Second, it might limit opportunism by not offering blanket certification to its participants. Our results indicate that BSR members exhibit greater levels of positive social impacts without demonstrating significantly different levels of negative social impacts. This suggests that participation in voluntary initiatives that avoid granting blanket certifications may be associated with the adoption of new corporate social responsibility practices but not linked to the shedding of entrenched routines that produce negative externalities.