Corporate Philanthropy as Institutional Co-Production: Domestic Firms, Soft Governance, and Morocco’s Regional Repositioning ​

Corporate Philanthropy as Institutional Co-Production: Domestic Firms, Soft Governance, and Morocco’s Regional Repositioning ​ | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Corporate Philanthropy as Institutional Co-Production: Domestic Firms, Soft Governance, and Morocco’s Regional Repositioning ​ Maouia El Morabit, Petia Koleva, Lamia Nejjar This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9586962/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 4 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This article examines the role of corporate philanthropy in shaping institutional environments in African contexts. While international business research has largely conceptualized philanthropy as a tool of legitimacy or adaptation, we develop a framework that positions it as a mechanism of institutional co-production. Drawing on a qualitative study of Morocco based on 50 semi-structured interviews, the analysis shows how philanthropic practices contribute to structuring action arenas, coordinating heterogeneous actors, and influencing development priorities in a context characterized by institutional hybridity. The findings highlight the multi-scalar nature of corporate philanthropy, linking domestic institutional embeddedness with processes of regional expansion. In particular, domestically embedded firms mobilize philanthropic initiatives alongside economic diplomacy to support their positioning across African markets. The article contributes to the literature by reconceptualizing corporate philanthropy as a form of soft governance and by introducing the notion of institutional projection to explain how firms from Africa participate in the diffusion and evolution of transnational institutional environments. corporate philanthropy institutional hybridity institutional projection soft governance economic diplomacy Morocco Full Text Supplementary Files LettertotheeditorsofthespecialJIBEissue.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviewers agreed at journal 14 May, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 14 May, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 05 May, 2026 First submitted to journal 03 May, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9586962","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":640401081,"identity":"918b64a0-e5d9-40dd-ad34-bf63ed5bbf80","order_by":0,"name":"Maouia El Morabit","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Paris Cité University: Universite Paris Cite","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Maouia","middleName":"El","lastName":"Morabit","suffix":""},{"id":640401082,"identity":"3f57cec7-033e-41fe-b386-cfb8c146f591","order_by":1,"name":"Petia Koleva","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABAklEQVRIie3PsWqDQBzH8d8heIs0q5BgX8GQIQjtu5wcOKVZhJJRCNx00LXQoa/QR/AQMh2ZnZJByNTB0kVooT1TGly8udD7DofK/6N/AZfrj1YCDFf9VXu+JwVwYwPeD/H72ccLyewEv8QLLk8tZEkfVNkhi3wq5++3AuvJU7VtwQ6jJJEVlMRq4Qd6Mb0TyMN9KkKwfJTENUcZYGPGMmbIV1poIkA6Nk6ODdRnT65P/CMRSJ816RezkNpDFWBlvuLtpub96YsmRWgjieRxNYsz8y98l8g98rlZLGQWsqSqeXvd8GhC1bbu7rGONG3a1rbY4DzHBqeNDLINu1wu1z/tG9rqUALKZkX4AAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7644-6573","institution":"Paris Cité University: Universite Paris Cite","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Petia","middleName":"","lastName":"Koleva","suffix":""},{"id":640401083,"identity":"4a9513cc-b4fd-405b-9dcf-30e5575fa03e","order_by":2,"name":"Lamia Nejjar","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Université Paris Cité: Universite Paris Cite","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Lamia","middleName":"","lastName":"Nejjar","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-05-01 14:31:35","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9586962/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9586962/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":109759516,"identity":"708cbfa4-c765-4f3e-bf26-89d9c0d144c2","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-05-22 07:27:15","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":441056,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"ArticleJIBEwithauthors.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9586962/v1_covered_e4c38fcb-e8c3-4543-a057-c6baabc35e6f.pdf"},{"id":109433941,"identity":"273ee172-3d30-4f29-8908-bfcdd5f99929","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-05-18 05:50:41","extension":"pdf","order_by":5,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":146843,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"LettertotheeditorsofthespecialJIBEissue.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9586962/v1/be0c0c469342694b6546e53b.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"","formattedTitle":"Corporate Philanthropy as Institutional Co-Production: Domestic Firms, Soft Governance, and Morocco’s Regional Repositioning ​","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"journal-of-industrial-and-business-economics","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"jibe","sideBox":"Learn more about [Journal of Industrial and Business Economics](https://www.springer.com/journal/40812)","snPcode":"40812","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/jibe","title":"Journal of Industrial and Business Economics","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"corporate philanthropy, institutional hybridity, institutional projection, soft governance, economic diplomacy, Morocco","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9586962/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9586962/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"This article examines the role of corporate philanthropy in shaping institutional environments in African contexts. 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