Survey of the Consequences and Determinants of Corporate Social Responsibility

This paper examines the expanding corporate social responsibility (CSR) literature by proceeding in three stages. First, it defines the conceptions of CSR and explores why public corporations implement CSR practices. A clear-eyed look at the law of corporations reveals that directors consider the interests of stakeholders, such as the corporation's employees, as a means of promoting stockholder welfare. Second, it reviews the consequences of CSR and finds support for the "doing well by doing good" hypothesis. Third, it looks at the determinants of CSR by narrowing the focus to corporate governance issues, a vehicle for integrating environmental and social issues into firms' business models. Based on these findings, the paper discusses the implications and suggests that CSR research should employ an integrated approach that breaks down barriers between the established "silos" of economics and related disciplines.