Abstract
“The business of business is business”, Milton Friedman replied, when asked what economics contributes to the welfare of society (Milton Friedman 1972). In his view, business contributes much to the welfare of society by producing goods and services, supporting economic growth and providing employment. But questions of finite planetary resources; climate change vulnerability; loss or reduction in biodiverse natural habitats; decrease in ecosystems services; drilling in the arctic; poor labour conditions in many markets; questions over human rights, accompanied by social unrest connected to infrastructure projects; and speculation in natural resources and soft commodities and the question of access to drinking water have brought new meaning to responsibility for business and the financial industry in particular.
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International Energy Agency, ETP World Energy Outlook (2012).
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OECD (2014).
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[Carroll, 1979, 2008, 500]: “The social responsibility of business encompasses the economic, legal, ethical and discretionary expectations that a society has of organizations at a given point in time.”
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EU Definition of CSR: “A concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis.”
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Mallenbaker Definition: “CSR is about how companies manage the business processes to produce an overall positive impact on society.”
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The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD): “Corporate Social Responsibility is the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large.”
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See Financial Times Lexicon, Internet http://lexicon.ft.com/Term?term=investment-bank, accessed on January 5, 2014.
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References
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Friedman, M. (1970, September 13). The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. New York Times.
Suchman, M. C. (1995). Managing legitimacy: Strategic and institutional approaches. The Academy of Management Review, 20(3), 571–610. http://www.jstor.org/stable/258788
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Wendt, K. (2015). Editor’s Contribution. In: Wendt, K. (eds) Responsible Investment Banking. CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10311-2_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10311-2_1
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