Moral Degradation, Business Ethics, and Corporate Social Responsibility in a Transitional Economy
This article theoretically proposes and empirically verifies an understudied issue in the business ethics (BE) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) literature-how moral degradation (MD) in a society influences the relationship between BE or CSR and firm performance (i.e., corporate legitimacy a...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
Springer Netherlands
2014
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/49835 |
| _version_ | 1848758326809067520 |
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| author | Zheng, Q. Luo, Yadong Wang, S. |
| author_facet | Zheng, Q. Luo, Yadong Wang, S. |
| author_sort | Zheng, Q. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | This article theoretically proposes and empirically verifies an understudied issue in the business ethics (BE) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) literature-how moral degradation (MD) in a society influences the relationship between BE or CSR and firm performance (i.e., corporate legitimacy and competitive advantage). Building on strategic choice theory, we propose that both BE and CSR become more important in enhancing business success when the perceived MD is heightened. Our analysis of 300 firms operating in China statistically confirms our hypotheses: first, under high MD, firms' engagement in CSR results in higher corporate legitimacy and competitive advantage, and second, their adherence to ethical business codes leads to higher corporate legitimacy. We conclude the article by outlining the implications for both theory and practice. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T09:42:13Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-49835 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T09:42:13Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publisher | Springer Netherlands |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-498352017-09-13T15:36:21Z Moral Degradation, Business Ethics, and Corporate Social Responsibility in a Transitional Economy Zheng, Q. Luo, Yadong Wang, S. This article theoretically proposes and empirically verifies an understudied issue in the business ethics (BE) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) literature-how moral degradation (MD) in a society influences the relationship between BE or CSR and firm performance (i.e., corporate legitimacy and competitive advantage). Building on strategic choice theory, we propose that both BE and CSR become more important in enhancing business success when the perceived MD is heightened. Our analysis of 300 firms operating in China statistically confirms our hypotheses: first, under high MD, firms' engagement in CSR results in higher corporate legitimacy and competitive advantage, and second, their adherence to ethical business codes leads to higher corporate legitimacy. We conclude the article by outlining the implications for both theory and practice. 2014 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/49835 10.1007/s10551-013-1668-4 Springer Netherlands restricted |
| spellingShingle | Zheng, Q. Luo, Yadong Wang, S. Moral Degradation, Business Ethics, and Corporate Social Responsibility in a Transitional Economy |
| title | Moral Degradation, Business Ethics, and Corporate Social Responsibility in a Transitional Economy |
| title_full | Moral Degradation, Business Ethics, and Corporate Social Responsibility in a Transitional Economy |
| title_fullStr | Moral Degradation, Business Ethics, and Corporate Social Responsibility in a Transitional Economy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Moral Degradation, Business Ethics, and Corporate Social Responsibility in a Transitional Economy |
| title_short | Moral Degradation, Business Ethics, and Corporate Social Responsibility in a Transitional Economy |
| title_sort | moral degradation, business ethics, and corporate social responsibility in a transitional economy |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/49835 |