Abstract
Different perspectives on corporate social responsibility (CSR) exist, each with their own agenda. Some emphasise management responsibilities towards stakeholders, others argue that companies should actively contribute to social goals, and yet others reject a social responsibility of business beyond legal compliance. In addition, CSR initiatives relate to different issues, such as labour standards and corruption. This article analyses what types of CSR initiatives are supported by political and economic arguments. The distinction between different CSR perspectives and CSR issues on the one hand and between political and economic arguments on the other could help to advance the debate on the justification and welfare impact of CSR. It is argued that ordinary boundary conditions for business behaviour in a market economy provide support for some, but not all, CSR initiatives. This has implications for policy priorities. Building on the analysis, it is proposed that more attention should be paid to the behaviour of large multinational enterprises in their normal business operations and to CSR issues with a potentially large impact on market functioning.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bendell, J. (2005). In whose name? The accountability of corporate social responsibility. Development in Practice, 15(3), 362–375. doi:10.1080/09614520500075813
Blowfield, M. (2005). Corporate Social Responsibility: reinventing the meaning of development? International Affairs, 81(3), 515–524. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2346.2005.00466.x
Boatright, J.R. 2000, Ethics and the conduct of business (Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River)
Carroll, A.B. (1979). A Three-Dimensional Conceptual Model of Corporate Performance. Academy of Management Review, 4(4), 497–505. doi:10.2307/257850
Carroll, A.B. (1991). The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility: Towards the Moral Management of Organizational Stakeholders. Business Horizons, 34(4), 39–48. doi:10.1016/0007-6813(91)90005-G
Carroll, A.B. (1999). Corporate Social Responsibility. Evolution of a Definitional Construct. Business & Society, 38(3), 268–295. doi:10.1177/000765039903800303
Christensen, J., & Murphy, R. (2004). The Social Irresponsibility of Corporate Tax Avoidance: Taking CSR to the bottom line. Development, 47(3), 37–44. doi:10.1057/palgrave.development.1100066
Clarkson, M.B.E. (1995). A stakeholder framework for analyzing and evaluating corporate performance. Academy of Management Review, 20(1), 92–117. doi:10.2307/258888
Cramer, J., Jonker, J., & van der Heijden, A. (2004). Making Sense of Corporate Social Responsibility. Journal of Business Ethics, 55(2), 215–222. doi:10.1007/s10551-004-1903-0
Dhanarajan, S. (2005). Managing ethical standards: When rhetoric meets reality. Development in Practice, 15(3), 529–539. doi:10.1080/09614520500075946
Donaldson, T., & Dunfee, T. 1999, Ties that bind: A social contract approach to business ethics (Harvard Business School Press, Boston)
Dunfee, T. (2006). A Critical Perspective of Integrative Social Contracts Theory: Recurring Criticisms and Next Generation Research Topics. Journal of Business Ethics, 68(3), 303–328. doi:10.1007/s10551-006-9016-6
Elkington, J. 1997, Cannibals with Forks: The Triple Bottom line of the 21st century business (Capstone Publishing, London)
Elkington, J. 2001, The chrysalis economy: How citizen CEOs and their corporations can fuse values and value creation (Capstone Publishing, London)
Friedman, M. 1962, Capitalism and Freedom (University of Chicago Press, Chicago)
Friedman, M.: 1970, ‹The Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits’, The New York Times Magazine September 13
Hartman, L. P., B. Shaw and R. Stevenson: 1999, ‹Balancing Sweatshop Ethics and Economics: Labor Standards Working Paper No. 9901’, SSRN, http://ssrn.com/abstract=200329 (accessed June 2008)
Hayes, B. and B. Walker: 2005, ‹Corporate Responsibility or Core Competence?’, Development in Practice 15(3), 405–413
Heap, S. 2000, NGOs engaging with business: A World of Difference and a Difference to the World (INTRAC, Oxford)
Heath, J. (2006). Business Ethics Without Stakeholders. Business Ethics Quarterly, 16(4), 533–557
Henderson, D. 2001, Misguided Virtue: False notions of Corporate Social Responsibility (Institute of Economic Affairs, London)
Henderson, D.: 2005, ‹The Role of Business in the World of Today’, Journal of Corporate Citizenship 17, 30–32
Holme, R., & Watts, P. 2000, Corporate social responsibility: Making good business sense (WBCSD, Geneva)
Jenkins, R. (2005). Globalization, Corporate Social Responsibility and poverty. International Affairs, 81(3), 525–540. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2346.2005.00467.x
Kell, G. and J. G. Ruggie: 1999, Global Markets And Social Legitimacy: The Case For The “Global Compact”. Transnational Corporations, 8(3), 101–119
Kraakman, R., & Hansmann, H. 2004, ‹Agency Problems and Legal Strategies. In R. Kraakman et al. (eds.) The Anatomy of Corporate Law. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 21–31
Mackenzie, C.: 2004, ‹Moral Sanctions’, Journal of Corporate Citizenship 15, 49–61
Maitland, I. 2000, ‹The Great Non-Debate over International Sweatshops. In T. Beauchamp and N. Bowie (eds.), Ethical Theory and Business. Prentice-Hall, New Jersey, pp. 579–590
Marens, R. (2004). Wobbling on a One-Legged Stool: The Decline of American Pluralism and the Academic Treatment of Corporate Social Responsibility. Journal of Academic Ethics, 2(1), 63–87. doi:10.1023/B:JAET.0000039008.46810.32
Marens, R. (2007). Returning to Rawls: Social Contracting, Social Justice, and Transcending the Limitations of Locke. Journal of Business Ethics, 75(1), 63–76. doi:10.1007/s10551-006-9238-7
Marsden, C. 2001, ‹Making a Positive Impact on Society’, in S. Nourick (eds.), Corporate Social Responsibility: Partners for Progress (OECD, Paris), pp. 45–49
Murphy, D.F., & Bendell, J. 1999, Partners in Time? Business, NGOs and Sustainable Development. UNRISD, Geneva
Norberg, J.: 2003, ‹Why Corporations Shouldn’t be Socially Responsible: A Critical Examination of the Theories of CSR’, in Conference Managing on the Edge: Keynotes, Session Proposals and Proceedings (University of Nijmegen, Nijmegen), p. 19
OECD. 2001a, Corporate responsibility: Private Initiatives and Public Goals. OECD, Paris
OECD.2001b, OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises: Annual Report 2001. Global Instruments for Corporate Responsibility (OECD, Paris)
Prahalad, C.K. (2002). Strategies for the Bottom of the Economic Pyramid: India as a Source of Innovation. Reflections: The SOL Journal, 3(4), 6–18. doi:10.1162/152417302760127192
Reich, R.B. 2007, Supercapitalism: The Transformation of Business, Democracy and Everyday Life (Knopf, New York)
Rodin, D. (2005). The Ownership Model of Business Ethics. Metaphilosophy, 36(1/2), 163–181. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9973.2005.00361.x
Sacconi, L. (2006). A Social Contract Account for CSR as an Extended Model of Corporate Governance (I): Rational Bargaining and Justification. Journal of Business Ethics, 68(3), 259–281. doi:10.1007/s10551-006-9014-8
Sargent, J., & Matthews, L. (1999). Exploitation or Choice? Exploring the Relative Attractiveness of Employment in the Maquiladoras. Journal of Business Ethics, 18(2), 213–227. doi:10.1023/A:1005742629319
Singh, A.: 2003, ‹CSR from a Developmental Perspective’, in Summaries of Conference on CSR and Development: Towards a New Agenda (UNRISD, Geneva), pp.␣47–54
Sustain Ability and WWF-UK. 2005, Influencing Power: Reviewing the conduct and content of corporate lobbying. SustainAbility, London
UNCTAD. 1999, The Social Responsibility of Transnational Corporations. UNCTAD, New York
Utting, P. (2005). Corporate responsibility and the movement of business. Development in Practice, 15(3), 375–389. doi:10.1080/09614520500075797
Utting, P. (2007). CSR and Equality. Third World Quarterly, 28(4), 697–713. doi:10.1080/01436590701336572
Wettstein, F.: 2005, ‹From Causality to Capability’, Journal of Corporate Citizenship 19, 105–117
Zeldenrust, I.: 2003, ‹Multistakeholder Initiatives’, in Summaries of Conference on CSR and Development: Towards a New Agenda (UNRISD, Geneva), pp. 32–36
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Weyzig, F. Political and Economic Arguments for Corporate Social Responsibility: Analysis and a Proposition Regarding the CSR Agenda. J Bus Ethics 86, 417–428 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-008-9855-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-008-9855-4