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Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the environment: Does CSR increase emissions?

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  • Fukuda, Katsufumi
  • Ouchida, Yasunori

Abstract

This paper develops a corporate social responsibility (CSR) model under a time-consistent emission tax in a monopoly market. This paper also analyzes the effects of CSR behavior on economic welfare and the environment. The results show that (i) the promotion of CSR invariably enhances social welfare, (ii) when environmental damage is serious and the cost efficiency of emission reduction is low, then a pure profit-maximizing monopolist has some incentives for behaving as a socially responsible firm to enhance its own net profit, and (iii) in stark contrast to common belief, CSR can yield an emission-increasing effect. Consequently, this paper reveals that CSR is not always beneficial for the environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Fukuda, Katsufumi & Ouchida, Yasunori, 2020. "Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the environment: Does CSR increase emissions?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:92:y:2020:i:c:s0140988320302735
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2020.104933
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Corporate social responsibility; Emission abatement; Monopoly; Time-consistent emission tax;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • Q55 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Technological Innovation
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

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