Corporate Social Responsibility Engagement, Implementation Barriers, and Competitive Advantage in Latvian SMEs

This study examines whether corporate social responsibility (CSR) contributes to sustainable competitive advantage in Latvian small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs), and whether perceived implementation barriers reduce that effect. The study draws on a cross-sectional survey sample of 729 SMEs operating in 14 industries. The analysis uses hierarchical ordinary least squares moderation models with meancentred variables and HC3 heteroskedasticity-robust standard errors, controlling for firm size, firm age, and industry. Five item-level moderation models were estimated to assess specific barriers. The results indicate a positive association between CSR engagement and sustainable competitive advantage. However, the expected weakening effect of implementation barriers is not supported. The overall interaction was not significant, and the barrier-specific effects lacked robustness. The findings suggest that perceived implementation barriers should be understood as contextual challenges and boundary conditions, rather than as fixed constraints on CSR-related competitive advantage. Future research should test these relationships with longitudinal, broader regional and multi-respondent designs.