Which norms do CSR help to respect?

We study whether adoption of corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies contributes to more responsible business conduct by reducing the likelihood that firms commit human rights violations. We theorize that the social outcomes of CSR are likely to differ across human rights abuse categories, defined based on the distinction in international human rights law between violations of “non-derogable” and “derogable” norms. We argue that for firms CSR acts as an internal moralizer in the context of protection of non-derogable rights concerning core human rights and freedoms such as the right to life and freedom from torture, inhuman, or degrading treatment. At the same time, we suggest that in the context of other “derogable” rights CSR acts as an insurance device. Derogable rights tend to be more culturally bounded and generally less gross. Our study of 135 large public corporations between 1990 and 2010 supports our hypotheses. We discuss contributions to research on the impact of business on society by qualifying the nature of the impacts of CSR on human beings.