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Anglo-American Model Versus Continental European Model

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Encyclopedia of Corporate Social Responsibility

Synonyms

Anglo-American shareholder system versus Continental Europe stakeholder system; Insider system versus Outsider system; Shareholder primacy versus Stakeholding; Shareholder value versus Pluralism

Definition

The Anglo-American model of CSR is usually seen as being premised on the idea of shareholder value, that is, the idea of maximizing shareholder returns (dividends) and capital growth (share price). Shareholders’ interests are therefore considered to be paramount at the expense of other stakeholders. In effect, the Anglo-American conception of the corporation is one of a private enterprise. As such, CSR is said to be subordinated to the goal of making profits. On the other hand, the Continental European Model of CSR is much more focused on operating the core business in a socially responsible way. Shareholders are seen as being one constituency of stakeholders among others, and as a result, shareholder value is not seen as being the main goal of the corporation. It could be...

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Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Mr Patrick Browne (LLB, University of Surrey) for his research assistance in the compilation of these entries, funding for which was made available by the School of Law, University of Surrey, UK.

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Correspondence to Renginee G. Pillay .

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© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Pillay, R.G. (2013). Anglo-American Model Versus Continental European Model. In: Idowu, S.O., Capaldi, N., Zu, L., Gupta, A.D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Corporate Social Responsibility. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28036-8_479

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