What role might science and technology parks have in the context of corporate social responsibility? That is the question researchers from Spain address in a paper in the International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management.
José Moyano-Fuentes, Antonia Rodríguez-Martínez, and Juan José Jiménez-Delgado of the University of Jaén, explain their work as flowing in the stream of research that investigates the factors that explain corporate social responsibility. They use reasoning derived from institutional theory to examine the effects of the sense of belonging to such a park, the involvement of institutions with links to the park, and the know-how that exists within the park. The research literature has paid much attention to geographical concentrations of companies and been used in some areas to justify the benefits to companies of setting up in such environments.
The study of some 239 companies based on science and technology parks reveals that all three aspects have a significant positive influence on the corporate social responsibility of those companies. However, “know-how” was shown to be of only secondary importance when compared to the corporate sense of belonging and the role played by institutions associated with the parks.
“The literature has also paid significant attention to geographical concentrations of companies and justified the benefits to companies of setting up in such environments,” the team writes. Fundamentally, “Companies could be observed to want to pay back society in return for the benefits that they obtained from being located in a science and technology park,” the team adds.
Moyano-Fuentes, J., Rodríguez-Martínez, A. and Jiménez-Delgado, J.J. (2019) ‘Territorial agglomerations and corporate social responsibility: the role of science and technology parks’, Int. J. Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, Vol. 23, No. 2, pp.180–203.