Technological Competition, Innovation Motive, and Corporate Social Responsibility *

Companies that operate in markets that compete on technology may be particularly interested in the innovation-enabling potential of CSR. Academic literature has proposed various motives for firms to engage in CSR, but no attention has been paid to innovation as a motive. In Chapter 11 we explore the role of this motive and hypothesize that it is particularly important for companies facing intensive technological competition. Test results show that the innovation motive mediates the relationship between intensity of technological competition and CSR and is the most (second most) important motive for environmental (social) CSR.