El Kalak, Izidin, Hafeez, Bilal  ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3628-0860, Huang, Winifred and Wang, Qingwei ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3695-7846
2026.
Legal heritage and corporate social responsibility.
British Journal of Management
37
(3)
, e70068.
10.1111/1467-8551.70068
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Abstract
This paper explores the influence of regional legal heritage on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices in U.S. firms, finding that firms in areas with civil law ancestry exhibit significantly stronger CSR strengths and fewer concerns than those in common law regions. Stakeholder-oriented civil traditions appear to push greater investment in community, environmental, and employee initiatives, supporting long-term value through reputation and trust. Results are economically meaningful and robust: they hold across alternative measures, specifications, and an instrumental-variables approach that mitigates confounding influences. The results confirm comparative evidence that stakeholder-oriented legal traditions foster stronger CSR, now identified within a single-country setting using county-level legal heritage. The study advances theory by introducing a social-identity micro-foundation through which legal heritage shapes managerial preferences, and by documenting moderators (size, dividends, education) that amplify identity-consistent CSR. The insights are valuable for policymakers to calibrate regulations that promote socially responsible practices, while managers can align CSR strategy with local legal-cultural norms to unlock legitimacy and resilience. Overall, the paper highlights the critical role of legal heritage in driving CSR outcomes and its potential to support sustainable business performance.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Date Type: | Publication |
| Status: | Published |
| Schools: | Schools > Business (Including Economics) |
| Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HG Finance |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | corporate social responsibility; social capital; legal heritage; legal origins |
| Additional Information: | RRS policy applied |
| Publisher: | Wiley |
| ISSN: | 1045-3172 |
| Date of First Compliant Deposit: | 10 April 2026 |
| Date of Acceptance: | 6 April 2026 |
| Last Modified: | 04 Aug 2026 13:30 |
| URI: | https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/186286 |
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