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Orchestrating Governmental Corporate Social Responsibility Interventions through Financial Markets: The Case of French Socially Responsible Investment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 April 2020

Stéphanie Giamporcaro ,
Jean-Pascal Gond  and
Niamh O’Sullivan
Stéphanie Giamporcaro
Affiliation:
Nottingham Trent University University of Cape Town
Jean-Pascal Gond
Affiliation:
City, University of London
Niamh O’Sullivan
Affiliation:
University of Nottingham
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Abstract

Although a growing stream of research investigates the role of government in corporate social responsibility (CSR), little is known about how governmental CSR interventions interact in financial markets. This article addresses this gap through a longitudinal study of the socially responsible investment (SRI) market in France. Building on the “CSR and government” and “regulative capitalism” literatures, we identify three modes of governmental CSR intervention—regulatory steering, delegated rowing, and microsteering—and show how they interact through the two mechanisms of layering (the accumulation of interventions) and catalyzing (the alignment of interventions). Our findings: 1) challenge the notion that, in the neoliberal order, governments are confined to steering market actors—leading and guiding their behavior—while private actors are in charge of rowing—providing products and services; 2) show how governmental CSR interventions interact and are orchestrated; and 3) provide evidence that governments can mobilize financial markets to promote CSR.

Keywords

corporate social responsibilityfinancial marketsgovernmentorchestrationregulationsocially responsible investment
Type
Article
Information
Business Ethics Quarterly , Volume 30 , Issue 3 , July 2020 , pp. 288 - 334
Copyright
© 2020 Business Ethics Quarterly

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