CEO Power, Levels of Institutional Discretion, and CSR Choice

Based on a large international sample, we show how decision-making power of CEOs in conjunction with prevailing institutional discretion relates to corporate resources allocated towards CSR strategy. First, especially in environments with greater institutional discretion, powerful CEOs pursue exaggerated CSR strategies aiming at reputational gains for their private benefit, while not necessarily bearing the costs of their decisions. Second, such...