Corporate Social Responsibility Through an Economic Lens

Forest L. Reinhardt, Robert Norman Stavins and Richard H.K. Vietor

Discussion Papers from Resources For the Future

Abstract: Business leaders, government officials, and academics are focusing considerable attention on the concept of “corporate social responsibility” (CSR), particularly in the realm of environmental protection. Beyond complete compliance with environmental regulations, do firms have additional moral or social responsibilities to commit resources to environmental protection? How should we think about the notion of firms sacrificing profits in the social interest? May they do so within the scope of their fiduciary responsibilities to their shareholders? Can they do so on a sustainable basis, or will the forces of a competitive marketplace render such efforts and their impacts transient at best? Do firms, in fact, frequently or at least sometimes behave this way, reducing their earnings by voluntarily engaging in environmental stewardship? And finally, should firms carry out such profit-sacrificing activities (i.e., is this an efficient use of social resources)? We address these questions through the lens of economics, including insights from legal analysis and business scholarship.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility; voluntary environmental performance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: M14 L51 Q50 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-env, nep-ppm and nep-soc
Date: 2008-04-25
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http://www.rff.org/documents/RFF-DP-08-12.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Corporate Social Responsibility Through an Economic Lens (2008)
Working Paper: Corporate Social Responsibility through an Economic Lens (2008)
Working Paper: Corporate Social Responsibility Through an Economic Lens (2008)
Journal Article: Corporate Social Responsibility Through an Economic Lens (2008)
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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-08-12

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