Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to elucidate and explain the origins and transformation of the study of corporate social responsibility (CSR) over its half‐century history. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is a historical study in two parts. The first and larger part...

Purpose – This paper reconsiders the criticisms of the most influential theory of the rise of the large corporations, and to see how these criticisms can be met without entirely abandoning the basic elements of the theory. Design/methodology/approach – This problem is approached by first...