Department of Economics, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Working
Papers in Economics, Number 0605, March 2006
We describe some perspectives on corporate social responsibility (CSR), in order to
provide a context for considering the strategic motivations and implications of CSR. Based on
this framework, which is based on characterizing optimal firm decision making and underlies
most existing work on CSR, we propose an agenda for further theoretical and empirical research
on CSR. We then summarize and relate the articles in this special issue to the proposed agenda.
We describe some perspectives on corporate social responsibility (CSR), in order to
provide a context for considering the strategic motivations and implications of CSR. Based on
this framework, which is based on characterizing optimal firm decision making and underlies
most existing work on CSR, we propose an agenda for further theoretical and empirical research
on CSR. We then summarize and relate the articles in this special issue to the proposed agenda.