Doing well and being responsible: The impact of corporate social responsibility legitimacy on responsible entrepreneurship

Abstract

This article examines the influence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) legitimacy on responsible entrepreneurship. It also analyses the contingent factors that influence the relationship between CSR legitimacy and responsible entrepreneurship. While studies on CSR legitimacy are burgeoning, studies analyzing contingent factors and boundary conditions surrounding CSR legitimacy theory are sparse. We extend legitimacy theory by estimating a contingent model that examines the effect of local embeddedness and CSR commitment on the relationship between CSR legitimacy and responsible entrepreneurship. Utilizing time-lagged data collected from 282 entrepreneurs in Vietnam, we demonstrate that CSR legitimacy positively influences responsible entrepreneurship. Further, we find that local embeddedness exacerbates the potency of CSR legitimacy as a driver of responsible entrepreneurship. Additionally, our results show that this moderation is conditioned by CSR commitment. Specifically, the moderating effect of local embeddedness on the linkage between CSR legitimacy and responsible entrepreneurship is stronger when CSR commitment is high. These findings improve the conceptual scope and generalisability of CSR legitimacy as a driver of responsible entrepreneurship in non-Western contexts.