Abstract: Informal institution is an often ignored management variable of corporate social responsibility. Based on a general interpretation of corporate social responsibility, formal and informal institutions, this paper emphasizes that informal institution should be embedded in the corporate social responsibility. It also makes an analysis of the action mechanism of informal institution embedded in the corporate social responsibility, covering such areas as the construction of a harmonious society, the improvement of the efficiency of the formal institution, saving transaction costs, the guidance of corporate social responsibility practice, the motivation of entrepreneurial behavior, the cohesion of stakeholders, and the study of informal institutions. In the context of China’s cultural traditions, corporate social responsibility has to have not only heteronomy, but also more self-discipline. From the perspective of the embedded informal institution, the self-discipline and establishment of corporate social responsibility includes the following five aspects: moulding of the moral self-discipline, formation of entrepreneurial group- shared values and beliefs of corporate social responsibility, giving full play to the heteronomy of the third party organization and public opinion, development of the low carbon operation model, and moulding of the culture of corporate social responsibility.

Key words: corporate social responsibility; informal institution; self-discipline; establishment