False dawn for CSR? Shifts in regulatory policy and the response of the corporate and financial sectors in Britain

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False dawn for CSR? Shifts in regulatory policy and the response of the corporate and financial sectors in Britain

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Simon Deakin
Richard Hobbs

Abstract

We present a model of CSR as a set of mechanisms for aligning corporate behaviour with the interests of society in reducing externalities and promoting a sustainable corporate sector. These mechanisms include voluntary action by companies to go above minimum legal standards, with the aim of enhancing competitiveness ('action beyond compliance'); interventions by regulators designed to promote self-regulation by industry ('reflexive law'); and steps taken by shareholders to put pressure on companies to make effective use of corporate assets (shareholder engagement). We then assess the degree to which the model is realized in current British practice. Focusing on the issue of working conditions, we find managerial resistance to the linking of CSR with internal employee relations, and obstacles to shareholder engagement on this issue.

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Paper provided by ESRC Centre for Business Research in its series ESRC Centre for Business Research - Working Papers with number wp333.

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Date of creation: Sep 2006
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Handle: RePEc:cbr:cbrwps:wp333

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
K22 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Corporation and Securities Law
M14 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting - - Business Administration - - - Corporate Culture; Social Responsibility

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

NEP-ALL-2006-12-01 (All new papers)
NEP-LAW-2006-12-01 (Law & Economics)
NEP-REG-2006-12-01 (Regulation)

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Ruth V. Aguilera & Cynthia A. Williams & John M. Conley & Deborah E. Rupp, 2006. "Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility: a comparative analysis of the UK and the US," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 14(3), pages 147-158, 05. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
John Armour & Simon Deakin & Suzanne J. Konzelmann, 2003. "Shareholder Primacy and the Trajectory of UK Corporate Governance," British Journal of Industrial Relations, Blackwell Publishers Ltd/London School of Economics, vol. 41(3), pages 531-555, 09. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
John Armour & Simon Deakin & Suzanne J. Konzelmann, 2003. "Shareholder Primacy and the Trajectory of UK Corporate Governance," ESRC Centre for Business Research - Working Papers wp266, ESRC Centre for Business Research. [Downloadable!]

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This page was last updated on 2009-11-26.

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