Corporate social responsibility (CSR): an institutionalist Polanyian analysis

Purpose This study aims to focus on the understanding corporate social responsibility (CSR), this "novel" form of corporate engagement, and evaluating its capacity to regulate capitalism. The authors advance the following thesis: CSR constitutes a new variety of regulation of capitalism which, to work efficiently, must be built on collective institutions (through both collective agreements and forms of coercion), instead of strictly contractual forms (based on inter-individual relations and voluntary commitments). Design/methodology/approach To support this thesis, the authors use Karl Polanyi's theory, in particular his concept of "fictitious commodities". Like Polanyi, we contend that CSR is a necessary reaction to the new "great transformation" brought about by the financialisation of our economy which is currently in crisis. Polanyi agrees that this kind of regulation can yield results only when based on collective institutions. In the last section of the study, the authors attempt to determine how a "conventionalist analysis" of CSR could help us to precisely describe this phenomenon and how it could be institutionalised by actors (both inside and outside companies). Findings This paper theoretically demonstrates the role of institutions in CSR processes and the need to weigh them theoretically. In this sense, the paper demonstrates the aporia of a strictly contractualist framework, not only for the understanding of the phenomenon, but for its deployment. Originality/value This is an original paper in its theoretical positioning and the implications it suggests for economic policy.