Environmental Protection and the Social Responsibility of Firms

 

Comment on Portney

On Portney’s Complaint

Reconceptualizing Corporate Social Responsibility

Daniel C. Esty

The lack of an agreed definition for corporate social responsibility (CSR) is more than a semantic issue. The uncertainty surrounding the concept makes it hard for companies to know how to respond to calls for improved citizenship. This definitional problem is indicative, furthermore, of the absence of a sound theoretical structure within which to understand demands that corporations take action in response to certain social issues. Without a clear sense of the meaning and contours of CSR, it becomes very difficult to assess the social efficiency (i.e., possible policy gains) or the private cost-effectiveness (i.e., potential company ...