The impact of CEOs' regulatory focus on CSR: the strengthening effects of industry-level dynamism and firm-level volatility

Despite the increasing attention to factors leading to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), surprisingly little research has examined the roles of a CEO's psychological traits. This study specifically examines the effects of CEOs' regulatory focus (promotion versus prevention) on CSR. Given that CSR is an outcome-uncertain investment requiring risk-taking, we propose that CEOs with promotion focus are more likely to engage in CSR, whereas CEOs with prevention focus are less likely to engage in CSR. We further propose that such relationships will be stronger under conditions of high uncertainty, in which any corporate investment could result in either big gains or big losses. Using a panel sample of US firms from 2005 to 2011, we found that CEOs with a promotion focus are more active in CSR when there are high levels of industry-level dynamism and firm-level volatility. However, we did not find any moderating effects on a CEO's prevention focus and CSR.