This essay on Corporations is a chapter in an upcoming volume on economic theology edited by Stefan Schwarzkopf.The secular study of corporations has long regularly focused on three sets of concerns: (1) Is the idea of corporate “personhood” only a convenient shorthand for a complex set of...

Corporate customers are an important stakeholder in global supply chains. We employ several unique international databases to test whether socially responsible corporate customers can infuse similar socially responsible business behavior in suppliers. Our findings suggest a unilateral effect on...

It is commonly believed that the choice of adopting Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) behaviours is beyond the scope of profit enhancement. In a unionised oligopoly with centralised wage setting and decreasing returns to scale technology, the present paper shows that the owners' choice of...

In the corporate finance tradition starting with Berle & Means (1923), corporations should generally be run so as to maximize shareholder value. The agency view of corporate social responsibility (CSR) generally considers CSR as a managerial agency problem and a waste of corporate resources,...

The purpose of this paper is to explore the issue of sustainability, as it is practised by firms operating within developing economy contexts. It defines sustainable strategic corporate social responsibility (CSR) and proposes a framework that outlines the stages involved in the proficient...

This study examines the effect of two potential sources of ethical principles on earnings quality: corporate social responsibility (CSR) and membership in a Shariah index. We define membership in a Shariah index as the adherence to an ethical code that relates to Islam. Our sample comprises...

Following the financial crisis and recent recession, the center of gravity of global economic growth and competitiveness is shifting toward emerging economies. As a leading and increasingly influential emerging economy, China is currently attracting the attention of academics, practitioners, and...

To reduce a negative externality, socially responsible households can invest responsibly (SRI), consume responsibly (SRC), or do both. Which is better? In a closed microeconomic model with intertwined product and capital markets, we analyze how responsible households should use SRI and SRC to...

This work aims to assess the degree of comprehensiveness of Corporate Social Responsibility () reports of Brazilian companies and its determinants. Literature suggests that a CSR report is considered comprehensive when it contains three types of information for each CSR item published: vision...

In 2002, thirty-four chief executives of the world’s largest multinational corporations signed a document during the World Economic Forum (WEF) entitled, ‘Global Corporate Citizenship: The Leadership Challenge for CEOs and Boards’. These included Coca-Cola, Deutsche Bank, Diageo, Merck &...