Environmental Protection and the Social Responsibility of Firms

Comment on Reinhardt

Ethics, Risk, and the Environment in Corporate Responsibility

Eric W. Orts

Forest Reinhardt provides an excellent survey of some of the recent business literature concerning corporate governance and environmental management. His review is especially strong in providing a critical overview of work that has focused on whether and when “it pays to be green” as measured primarily in terms of shareholder value. A unifying theme of his inquiry is that the relevant business research looks to the fundamental question of “the business case” for environmental management. Reinhardt’s particular interest is in “the application of traditional business principles” to thinking about environmental problems that can lead to financial payoffs ...