Corporate social responsibility: what role for law? Some aspects of law and CSR
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to discuss the role that law plays for corporate social responsibility (CSR) in substance, action and reporting, including whether CSR functions as informal law.
Design/methodology/approach
The theoretical point of departure is based in legal science. Through a discussion of various contexts of CSR in which law and legal standards feature, the article questions the conception that CSR is to do “more than the law requires”. CSR is discussed with the triple bottom line as a point of departure, focussing on social (esp. labour and human rights) and environmental dimensions.
Findings
It is argued that CSR functions as informal law, and that important principles of law function as part of a general set of values that guide much action on CSR. Furthermore, it is argued that aspects of law in the abstract as well as in the statutory sense and as self‐regulation influence the substance, implementation and communication of CSR, and that the current normative regime of CSR in terms of demands on multinational corporations may constitute pre‐formal law.
Originality/value
Through its discussion, observations and examples of the role played in CSR by law in the abstract as well as the statutory sense, by international, supranational and national soft and hard law and documents, and by public regulation as well as corporate self‐regulation, the paper is of value to corporate managers, public regulators, NGOs and individuals with an interest in CSR, including as an aspect of corporate governance.
Keywords
Citation
Buhmann, K. (2006), "Corporate social responsibility: what role for law? Some aspects of law and CSR", Corporate Governance, Vol. 6 No. 2, pp. 188-202. https://doi.org/10.1108/14720700610655187
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2006, Emerald Group Publishing Limited