How National Institutional Configurations Shape the Global Diffusion of B Corp Certification
基于制度理论，研究了国家层面的政策驱动、信息驱动和环境驱动压力如何独立及联合影响B Corp认证在全球92个国家的扩散，发现环境动荡会削弱政策压力的作用，但信息驱动压力依然稳健。
ABSTRACT Drawing on institutional theory, we examine how distinct forms of national‐level normative pressures shape the global diffusion of B Corp certification, a leading voluntary sustainability standard. We differentiate policy‐driven, information‐driven, and environment‐driven pressures arising from climate policy, sustainable movement organizations (SMOs), and natural disasters, respectively. Using panel data on 9796 initial B Corp certifications across 92 countries from 2007 to 2023, we test how these pressures independently and jointly influence certification uptake worldwide. We find that each pressure is positively associated with diffusion. However, environmental turbulence weakens the positive association between policy‐driven pressure and certification uptake, while the influence of information‐driven pressure remains robust under such conditions. These findings point to institutional reconfiguration under environmental turbulence: Disruptions do not uniformly intensify institutional pressures but instead shift, which actors shape adoption, dampening regulatory momentum while leaving information‐driven pressures largely intact. By disaggregating normative pressures into stakeholder‐specific mechanisms, we enrich institutional theory by explaining how environmental turbulence reshapes the drivers of global B Corp certification diffusion.