Corporate social responsibility: Current state and future opportunities in the forest sector

Abstract

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) remains a critical topic for the forestry sector due to increasing societal expectations about the sustainable use of forests. This paper presents an updated review of the history, current state, and future opportunities for CSR in the forest sector. Drawing from cases of CSR in practice, the review focuses on CSR's role in firms' performance and reputation capital. As opposed to popular theoretical conceptualisations, firms' choice of CSR criteria, indicators, and implementation tools remain heavily weighted toward environmental concerns. Our findings suggest that CSR benefits a firm's reputation, but the review is less categorical on CSR's more direct or tangible effects in the short‐ or longer term. The review thus identifies progress in the field but concludes that opportunities exist to exploit CSR in the forestry sector more thoroughly.