Firm Growth and Corporate Social Responsibility

Abstract

This paper examines how the rate of firm growth influences corporate social responsibility (CSR). Periods of rapid growth can place substantial financial and managerial demands on firms, requiring leaders to prioritize the allocation of limited resources toward managing expansion. We propose that when firms grow quickly, managers may limit CSR investments—not because they undervalue CSR, but because growth itself consumes financial and attentional capacity. Using 19 years of data from 4,305 firms across 46 countries, we find that faster firm growth is associated with lower levels of CSR activity. This relationship is moderated by firms’ financial and attentional resources: firms with greater financial slack and managerial bandwidth maintain stronger CSR engagement even while growing rapidly. Overall, our results suggest that the relationship between growth and CSR reflects a pragmatic balancing of competing demands.