Does corporate social responsibility relate to corporate social irresponsibility? Toward an integrative framework for future research

Abstract

Business research shows the growing interest in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and, more recently, in its counterpart, corporate social irresponsibility (CSI). Yet existing literature on how these two concepts relate to each other is fragmented and sometimes contradictory, leaving an unanswered fundamental question about their dynamic relationship. We narrow this gap by systematically synthesizing and narratively analyzing 34 relevant studies. We uncover three core mechanisms underlying the connection between CSR and CSI: insurance, penance, and trade‐off. Our integrative framework on these mechanisms can benefit future studies on this emerging research topic.