Corporate social responsibility as an enabler of circular economy? A case study perspective in agribusiness

Circular Economy (CE) is attracting increasing attention from scholars and managers as it represents a lever for entrepreneurial strategy achieve economic, social and environmental sustainability. In sake of enhancing sustainability, another relevant practice is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), a common pillar for companies that intend to pursue ethics-related policies and at the same time environmental and economic benefits. As it is overlooked how CE and CSR interact each other, this research aims to analyze how, under the stakeholders theory, CSR implicitly favors the emergence of CE. In particular, we analyze this perspective in the agribusiness sector, which is a relevant context as it is technologically dynamic and requires paying attention to all the stakeholders involved. Using a qualitative approach, the results of the study highlight that the companies adopting CSR models have an orientation towards circularity. This research contributes to a more clear understanding of the interaction between CE and CSR, and provides useful indications to mangers in order to favor the two approaches and benefit all the stakeholders.