Corporate Social Responsibility in Agribusiness: Literature Review and Future Research Directions

Abstract

Changes in social framework conditions, accelerated by globalization or political inventions, have created new societal demands and requirements on companies. The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is often considered a potential tool for meeting societal demands and criticism as a company voluntarily takes responsibility for society. The spotlight of public attention has only recently come to focus on agribusiness-related aspects of CSR. It is therefore the objective of this paper to provide an overview and a critical examination of the current state of research into CSR in agribusiness from different perspectives. Upon that this paper goals to define CSR special cases in agribusiness and derive implications for further research. CSR in agribusiness is a multi-dimensional and complex concept, which is sensitive to ongoing exchange processes between companies and stakeholders. We conclude with the special position of CSR in agribusiness and that future research should focus on adding value to industry-specific CSR aspects in the general CSR framework borrowed from management literature. Explorative fieldwork such as expert interviews with different stakeholders might be suitable for gaining insights into agribusiness-specific aspects of CSR in firms.

Full text

REVIEW PAPER
Corporate Social Responsibility in Agribusiness:
Literature Review and Future Research Directions
Henrike Luhmann
1
•Ludwig Theuvsen
1
Accepted: 2 May 2016 / Published online: 25 May 2016
Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2016
Abstract Changes in social framework conditions, accelerated by globalization or
political inventions, have created new societal demands and requirements on companies.
The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is often considered a potential tool
for meeting societal demands and criticism as a company voluntarily takes responsibility
for society. The spotlight of public attention has only recently come to focus on
agribusiness-related aspects of CSR. It is therefore the objective of this paper to provide
an overview and a critical examination of the current state of research into CSR in
agribusiness from different perspectives. Upon that this paper goals to define CSR special
cases in agribusiness and derive implications for further research. CSR in agribusiness is a
multi-dimensional and complex concept, which is sensitive to ongoing exchange pro-
cesses between companies and stakeholders. We conclude with the special position of
CSR in agribusiness and that future research should focus on adding value to industry-
specific CSR aspects in the general CSR framework borrowed from management liter-
ature. Explorative fieldwork such as expert interviews with different stakeholders might
be suitable for gaining insights into agribusiness-specific aspects of CSR in firms.
Keywords Corporate social responsibility Agribusiness Literature review
Introduction
Changes in social framework conditions, accelerated by globalization or political
inventions, have created new societal demands and requirements on companies.
Consumers, especially in developed societies, are increasingly concerned about the
&Henrike Luhmann
henrike.luhmann@agr.uni-goettingen.de
1
Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, University of Go
¨ttingen, Platz
der Go
¨ttinger Sieben 5, 37073 Go
¨ttingen, Germany
123
J Agric Environ Ethics (2016) 29:673–696
DOI 10.1007/s10806-016-9620-0
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