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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. 9.8% 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%
538
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.8%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+1%
the tick is no change

Which countries lead Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability research?

By volume, Germany and Austria publish the most (822 and 62 works in 2022–2025).

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Germany 822 works
  2. 2 Austria 62 works
  3. 3 Switzerland 59 works
  4. 4 United States 46 works
  5. 5 United Kingdom 14 works
  6. 6 Italy 9 works
  7. 7 Netherlands 7 works
  8. 8 France 6 works
  9. 9 Denmark 6 works
  10. 10 Canada 6 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: 79.4%Austria: 5.9%Switzerland: 5.7%United States: 4.5%6 others listed: 4.5%79%largest
Germany822 · 79.4%Austria62 · 5.9%Switzerland59 · 5.7%United States46 · 4.5%6 others listed47 · 4.5%

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

Which institutions lead Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability research?

By volume in 2022–2025, FOM University of Applied Sciences for Economics and Management publishes the most Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability research, followed by München Klinik and Bielefeld University.

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 FOM University of Applied Sciences for Economics and Management Germany 13 works
  2. 2 München Klinik Germany 12 works
  3. 3 Bielefeld University Germany 12 works
  4. 4 IU International University of Applied Sciences Germany 10 works
  5. 5 Bayer (Germany) Germany 10 works
  6. 6 Hochschule Osnabrück Germany 9 works
  7. 7 University of Bremen Germany 9 works
  8. 8 University of Basel Switzerland 9 works
  9. 9 University of Münster Germany 8 works
  10. 10 Hochschule Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences Germany 8 works

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

The most-cited researchers publishing on Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability include Niklas Luhmann and Tim Lister.

  1. 1 Niklas Luhmann 2.3k citations
  2. 2 Tim Lister 1.6k citations

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

Where is Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability research done?

The largest centres of Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability research in 2022–2025 are Berlin (Germany), Munich (Germany), Stuttgart (Germany) and Vienna (Austria). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Essen.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Berlin Germany 64 works
  2. 2 Munich Germany 45 works
  3. 3 Stuttgart Germany 32 works
  4. 4 Vienna Austria 31 works
  5. 5 Hamburg Germany 27 works
  6. 6 Cologne Germany 25 works
  7. 7 Essen Germany 25 works
  8. 8 Düsseldorf Germany 20 works
  9. 9 Münster Germany 17 works
  10. 10 Dortmund Germany 16 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. EssenDE · 25.0 works43×
← less than its size predictsmore →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability than the world average.

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 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 10.45%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →FOM University of Applied Sciences for Economics and Management: 13, 12.8%University of Münster: 8, 28.5%Bielefeld University: 12, 8.6%University of Basel: 9, 9.6%Hochschule Osnabrück: 9, 11.0%IU International University of Applied Sciences: 10, 8.6%University of Bremen: 9, 4.5%Hochschule Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences: 8, 0.0%University of MünsterFOM University of Ap…University of BaselBielefeld University
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1FOM University of Applied Sciences for Economics and Management Germany 50.012.8%320.6×13 +215.4%
2University of Münster Germany 41.828.5%23.3×8 +90.1%
3Bielefeld University Germany 41.28.6%48.2×12 +171.2%
4University of Basel Switzerland 30.09.6%30.6×9 +94.2%
5Hochschule Osnabrück Germany 28.511.0%277.0×9 +131.1%
6IU International University of Applied Sciences Germany 23.18.6%210.6×10
7University of Bremen Germany 20.34.5%36.9×9 +75.9%
8Hochschule Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences Germany 6.60.0%180.4×8 +84.4%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 1% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

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

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.