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The Social Dimension of Corporate Sustainability: Review of an Evolving Research Field

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  • Robin Hogrefe

    (Management and Innovation in Health Care, Faculty of Management, Economics and Society, Witten/Herdecke University, Alfred-Herrhausen-Str. 50, 58455 Witten, Germany)

  • Sabine Bohnet-Joschko

    (Management and Innovation in Health Care, Faculty of Management, Economics and Society, Witten/Herdecke University, Alfred-Herrhausen-Str. 50, 58455 Witten, Germany)

Abstract

The social dimension of corporate sustainability has received increasing scholarly attention, especially during the last two decades. As a result, the research field is growing and evolving in different directions, yet currently missing a structured overview. The purpose of the present paper is to close this shortcoming by means of a scoping review of the relevant literature. A total of 53 papers have been identified for review through systematic database search. The research contributes to the academic discussion by providing the following key results: (1) an overview on the conceptual approach, definitions and industry/region-wise coverage of corporate social sustainability research; (2) a review and discussion of the key elements of the concept and (3) the identification and discussion of gaps and avenues to systematically develop the research field further. The results indicate a need for joint empirical and theoretical development, especially with stronger theoretical/conceptual discussions also from empirical research.

Suggested Citation

  • Robin Hogrefe & Sabine Bohnet-Joschko, 2023. "The Social Dimension of Corporate Sustainability: Review of an Evolving Research Field," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-22, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:4:p:3248-:d:1064332
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