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PurposeThis study aims to advance two sets of explanation on the evolution of corporate social responsibility (CSR) – one set of explanation in the context of a developed country, USA, and another in the context of a developing country, India. The discussion includes the period after mandatory CSR rules were implemented in India.Design/methodology/approachThis is a conceptual paper on the historical evolution of CSR in the USA and India. It reviews the chronological evolution of CSR. It compares the phases of CSR evolution between the two countries by tracking their CSR growth curves.FindingsThis study divides the evolution of CSR in the USA into four phases – conceptualization, introduction, growth and consolidation. In the first two phases, the rate of growth in CSR increases at a decreasing rate; in the growth phase, it increases at an increasing rate which stabilizes in the consolidation phase. In the Indian context, the study considers a three phase growth – conceptualization, introduction and growth. In the first two phases, the growth in CSR curve is inelastic. In the third phase, the growth rate increases but at a rate less than that in the USA.Originality/valueThough past research has examined historical evolution of CSR in the US context, scant research has tracked CSR evolution in India. Not many studies have compared the growth of CSR between developed and developing countries. This study also contributes the concept of CSR growth curves to the extant literature on CSR.

This study questions the accountability gap in business-to-government data sharing: if most European policy efforts are being devoted to the objective of unlocking private datasets for the "public good" under the EU Strategy for data, less attention has been given to the subsequent moment of the performance and execution of business-to-government data sharing agreements in a transparent and accountable manner to the public that should benefit from these. Given the accountability gaps left open by both public and the data protection regulations in the context of business-to-government data sharing, the analysis focuses on the notion of corporate digital responsibility as a gap-filler between public law-based and data protection-law based accountability models. This specific responsibility of businesses handling digital assets, as data, is given by the match between businesses' social accountability duties under the more general corporate social responsibility (CSR) framework and the legal and ethical obligations these bear in respect to the design and management of their datasets. The consideration of the specific problem of businesses' accountability in B2G data sharing enables to contextualise the debate on the possible contribution of corporations to welfare objectives in the digital economy and to draw more general conclusions on the role of corporate law in strengthening businesses' duties of accountability regarding enacted data and technology-related policies vis à vis external stakeholders.

AbstractWhat drives European Union (EU) policy change in a sensitive and contentious area? To answer this question, this article tells the story of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the EU from its beginnings until the present. The EU's role in EU CSR has changed from social‐liberal standard‐setter to neo‐liberal cheerleader and back. This article attempts to explain these shifts. It argues that Europe's institutional diversity hampers standard‐setting while economic crises and declining levels of business legitimacy facilitate it. Contention has been fuelled by CSR's inherent ambiguity: is CSR a means to regulate the economy, or a domain of voluntary activity that must remain free of state regulation? Fearful of regulation, business groups – German employers in particular – have forcefully advocated the latter view. In addition to converting EU CSR from social‐liberal to neo‐liberal, business has neutralized two of the Commission's standard‐setting advocates. The financial crisis, the power of arguments and discourse, and the impact of global policy developments in the field of CSR have re‐empowered standard‐setters. The article concludes with a critical analysis of the EU's renewed CSR strategy and non‐financial reporting agenda.

Recently, business representatives have begun to create networks that contribute to shaping the sustainable development agenda by influencing the establishment of norms, institutions and discourses. At the same time, there is a wide consensus that the power of transnational private actors in global governance has been neglected by scholars of International Relations (IR) and International Political Economy (IPE). In the past few years, new theoretical frameworks have been developed in order to identify different dimensions of business power in global governance. These approaches commonly observe the growing importance of the discursive power of business representatives and the lack of studies in this field. This paper refers to the research gap and explores how multinational companies implement discursive power in order to shape the discourse on sustainable development. Furthermore, it is argued that the specific social constructions of the concept of 'sustainable development' demonstrate ambivalences that the corporations have to deal with.

Argues that business ethics include such responsibilities as ecology and job creation.

Purpose of the article: Due to globalization processes and technological development, companies are having more influence on global society than ever. Therefore, business misconduct causes enormous harm to stakeholders, whereas ethical behavior is becoming an important issue. The goal of the following study is to verify and measure a positive effect from investments in social activities on financial attractiveness of companies in the form of its stock portfolio value growth. Methodology/methods: In order to achieve the goal of the research, quantitative analysis is used by comparing performance of stock portfolio of companies having long-term investments in social activities with market index increment. The quantitative results are accompanied with the review of corporate social responsibility definition and some practical issues on governmental and corporation level. Scientific aim: The conducted research contributes both to the scientific discussion about development of appropriate investment strategy in companies applying CSR principles as well as to the discussion of related terminology used in the field. Findings: The research has shown that engagement in the CSR activities tends to have strong positive effect on companies' financial results and investors' financial performance. The research proves this fact by comparing value increment of CSR-portfolio (+35.99% gained from January 2015 to March 2017) with market index (+22.37% in the same period). Conclusions: Regardless the positive result achieved in the study the authors have determined several gaps in the research, which will be discussed in the further studies on the field.

Increasing attention is now being paid to the concept of sustainability as a crucial element of our life at all levels. The awareness that attention must be paid not only to the present, but also and above all to the future of the society in which we live has increased attention to social and environmental issues, such as climate change and the digital revolution. This transformation has also impacted the public sector: in particular, the scientific attention in the university sector has led to the birth of the concept of University Social Responsibility (USR), which suggests that universities sustainably re-transform their work. However, this issue has so far only been the subject of a few studies. The purpose of this article is to promote greater awareness on the part of universities of the importance of addressing sustainability issues. The results of the analysis, obtained thanks to the use of a questionnaire and interviews, depict the state of the art in the adoption of social reporting practices by Italian universities and identify the main reasons and barriers to the adoption of these practices.

"The heightening impact of ecological and societal crises makes sustainability an increasingly urgent imperative, requiring a fundamental shift in how we understand and practice management and business. In this book, the authors set out the key characteristics of sustainability such as its temporal and multilevel effects and highlight the complex array of sustainability risks and opportunities for business and management. Setting business within a systems perspective, the authors outline different sustainability discourses that frame how business responds to the sustainability imperative. They call for the normative and scientific approaches to sustainability to be merged so that a new transdisciplinary approach that brings together the material and relational traditions in sustainability management is developed. Sustainability work is understood as the reframing of tools, technologies, practices and business strategies to respond to the imperative. The book concludes by highlighting dynamic features of the imperative as it is shaped by the urgent need to restore and regenerate social and ecological systems. Sustainability transitions such as the Circular Economy and Net Zero are suggested as inspiration for profound business transformation. By facing the intractable complexity associated with sustainability, this book challenges students and scholars to draw from across the sciences and social sciences to understand, reflect upon and deliver responsible business outcomes in contemporary society"--