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Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability

Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability is a research topic within Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management. Science Explorer counts 5.5k research works in it since 1950. 10.0% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the intersection of corporate social responsibility, sustainability, and business ethics. It delves into topics such as stakeholder engagement, social innovation, resilient cities, climate change, digital responsibility, and urban planning. The papers discuss the role of businesses in addressing environmental challenges and driving positive societal impact.

  • Corporate Social Responsibility
  • Sustainability
  • Business Ethics
  • Social Innovation
  • Resilient Cities
  • Climate Change
  • Stakeholder Engagement
  • Digital Responsibility
  • Environmental Policy
  • Urban Planning
Research works
5.5k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
551
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.0%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+20%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
Germany
78% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability

Which countries lead Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability research?

By volume, Germany and Austria publish the most (960 and 76 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Germany 960 works
  2. 2 Austria 76 works
  3. 3 Switzerland 68 works
  4. 4 United States 55 works
  5. 5 United Kingdom 21 works
  6. 6 Italy 11 works
  7. 7 Canada 10 works
  8. 8 Netherlands 8 works
  9. 9 France 7 works
  10. 10 India 7 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

Germany: 78.5%Austria: 6.3%Switzerland: 5.5%United States: 4.5%6 others listed: 5.2%78%largest
Germany960 · 78.5%Austria76 · 6.3%Switzerland68 · 5.5%United States55 · 4.5%6 others listed64 · 5.2%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability research?

By volume in 2022-now, FOM University of Applied Sciences for Economics and Management publishes the most Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability research, followed by Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres and München Klinik.

Who are the leading researchers in Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability include Herbert A. Simon.

  1. 1 Herbert A. Simon United States 179k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability?

The most cited paper in Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability is "Does ESG performance have an impact on financial performance? Evidence from Germany" (Patrick Velte, 2017), with 975 citations. Next come "Corporate Social Responsibility Education in Europe" (457) and "The Stakeholder Approach Revisited" (454).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Does ESG performance have an impact on financial performance? Evidence from Germany Patrick Velte · Journal of Global Responsibility 13 Jun 2017 975
2 Corporate Social Responsibility Education in Europe Dirk Matten, Jeremy Moon · Journal of Business Ethics Nov 2004 457
3 The Stakeholder Approach Revisited R. Edward Freeman · Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts- und Unternehmensethik Open access 2004 454
4 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Models and Theories in Stakeholder Dialogue Linda O’Riordan, Jenny M. Fairbrass · Journal of Business Ethics 15 Apr 2008 410
5 Corporate Social Responsibility Dirk Matten, Jeremy Moon · Journal of Business Ethics Dec 2004 345
All 98 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability research done?

The largest centres of Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability research in 2022-now are Berlin (Germany), Munich (Germany), Vienna (Austria) and Stuttgart (Germany).

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BerlinGermany 72 works
  2. 2 MunichGermany 51 works
  3. 3 ViennaAustria 39 works
  4. 4 StuttgartGermany 38 works
  5. 5 HamburgGermany 33 works
  6. 6 EssenGermany 31 works
  7. 7 CologneGermany 27 works
  8. 8 DüsseldorfGermany 21 works
  9. 9 MünsterGermany 19 works
  10. 10 Frankfurt am MainGermany 18 works
See Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability on the map

Where is the best place to study Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability?

Among universities, judged by research, FOM University of Applied Sciences for Economics and Management, University of Münster and Bielefeld University score highest, combining citation excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%10%20%30%mean 13.63%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →University of MünsterRWTH Aachen UniversityBielefeld UniversityFOM University of Ap…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Citation excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1FOM University of Applied Sciences for Economics and ManagementGermany 64.510.9%359.7×15 +152.2%
2University of MünsterGermany 63.125.5%19.7×9 -9.8%
3Bielefeld UniversityGermany 62.711.6%47.7×12 +169.7%
4RWTH Aachen UniversityGermany 60.712.9%13.1×11 +64.1%
5University of BaselSwitzerland 59.115.8%22.1×9 +155.5%
6University of StuttgartGermany 55.817.9%27.0×10 +2.9%
7IU International University of Applied SciencesGermany 51.79.8%258.3×12 +142.4%
8University of BremenGermany 47.910.3%35.6×9 +190.5%
9University of AugsburgGermany 42.59.8%53.0×10 -
10Hochschule OsnabrückGermany 42.211.8%266.5×9 +51.0%

Universities only. The score blends citation excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability, country by country

Is Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 20% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0051% in 2024.

still counting0.0025%0.0050%0.0075%Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability0.0062% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability9.6% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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