Too Cold to Be Skeptical: How Ambient Temperature Moderates the Effects of CSR Communication

19th November 2021
KCG Secretary
Authors: Wassili Lasarov, Robert Mai, Jan S. Krause, Ulrich Schmidt, Stefan Hoffmann (Ecological Economics , 2021, 183, Article: 106943)

Consumer reactions to firms' corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication range from favorable approval to outright skepticism toward the company. This paper contributes to the CSR literature by introducing a so-far overseen but relevant variable that helps to explain why consumer sometimes react positively and sometimes negatively to CSR communication: the ambient temperature[...]

Division of Labor under Perfect Competition

19th November 2021
KCG Secretary
Authors: Puqing Lai, Till Requate (Singapore Economic Review, 2020: 1–9)

This paper develops a simple model of division of labor under perfect competition. The model shows under that the division of labor is compatible with perfectly competitive markets if coordination costs are increasing with the number of teams. We also show under what conditions interior solutions for the division of labor exist under imperfect competition.

The Belt and Road Initiative, World Order and International Standards: Continuity, Adaptation, or Discontinuity?

19th November 2021
KCG Secretary
Authors: Guli-Sanam Karimova, Stephen A. LeMay (Journal of Global Ethics, 2021, 17(1): 71–90)

Many questions arise in any Western discussion of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Does China’s BRI represent a new world order that aligns with European values and interests? Alternatively, is it an attempt by China to dominate Eurasia and most of the world economically and socially?[...]

Virtue Ethics between East and West in Consumer Research: Review, Synthesis and Directions for Future Research

19th November 2021
KCG Secretary
Authors: Guli-Sanam Karimova, Nils Christian Hoffmann, Ludger Heidbrink, Stefan Hoffmann (Journal of Business Ethics, 2020, 165: 255–275)

This literature review systematically synthesizes studies that link consumer research to differences and similarities in virtue ethics between the East and the West, with a focus on early Chinese and ancient Greek virtue ethics. These two major traditions provide principles that guide consumer behavior and thus serve as a background to comparatively explain and evaluate the ethical nature of consumer behavior in the East and the West[...]

Welfare Beyond Consumption: The Benefits of Having Less

19th November 2021
KCG Secretary
Authors: Alexandra Hüttel, Ingo Balderjahn, Stefan Hoffmann (Ecological Economics, 2020, 176, Article: 106719)

In developed regions worldwide, so-called anti-consumers are increasingly resisting high-level consumption lifestyles or shifting to alternative forms of consumption. A general reduction in consumption levels is considered necessary to attain global sustainability goals[...]

Der Defining-Issues-Tests (DIT) in der wirtschaftswissenschaftlichen Konsumforschung Die empirische Analyse von Konsumdilemmata

19th November 2021
KCG Secretary
Authors: Nils Christian Hoffmann, Sebastian Müller (Wirtschaftswissenschaftliches Studium, 2021, 50(9): 4-9)

Der auf der kognitiven Entwicklungstheorie moralischen Urteilens von Kohlberg basierende Defining Issues Test (DIT) ist eine Methode, mit der sich Aussagen über die moralische Urteilsfähigkeit von Individuen treffen lassen. Mit Hilfe verschiedener Indizes können Handlungsdilemmata empirisch untersucht werden und so neue Impulse für die wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Forschung gewonnen werden[...]

Interfaces of occupational health management and corporate social responsibility: a multi-centre qualitative study from Germany

18th November 2021
KCG Secretary
Authors: Ludger Heidbrink, Eva Kuhn, Sebastian Müller, Christoph Teusch, Grit Tanner, Marlies Schümann, Carolin Baur, Eva Bamberg, Stuart McLennan, Alena Buyx (BMC Public Health, 2021, 21:1042)

The workplace has been identified as a priority setting for health promotion. There are potential advantages of systematically integrating Occupational Health Management (OHM) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). However, OHM and CSR are usually overseen by different management branches with different sets of values, and there is a lack of empirical research regarding interfaces between OHM and CSR. Germany offers a particularly useful setting due to legislation requiring health to be promoted in the workplace. This study aims to examine key stakeholders’ views and experiences regarding interfaces between OHM and CSR in German companies.