Place-Attached Family Firms and CSR Orientation: The Mediating Role of Local Embeddedness

Prior research suggests that the territory in which firms operate shapes the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) orientation of family firms. Yet, we know little about how the owning families’ territorial bonds relate to CSR. Drawing on survey data from 316 Italian family firms, we examine the association between owning families’ emotional ties to place (place attachment) and CSR orientation, and whether this association operates indirectly through the firm’s economic and social ties to its local context (local embeddedness). Results indicate a positive relationship between place attachment and CSR, partially mediated by local embeddedness, thus advancing a place-based perspective on CSR in family firms.