The Market for Virtue by David Vogel

The Market for Virtue: The Potential And Limits of Corporate Social Responsibility, by David Vogel presents balanced analysis of the contemporary company social responsibility (CSR) motion within the United States and Europe. This book provides a thoughtful and balanced appraisal of the motion’s accomplishments and limitations, including an essential analysis of the enterprise case for CSR.
Growing awareness of CSR is obvious within the growth of social and ethical funding funds, voluntary codes of corporate conduct, and companies’ self-reporting on social and environmental practices. Deep grassroots interests might be seen in boycotts, protests, and the growing number of organizations monitoring corporate social and environmental performance.
Vogel also demonstrates that CSR’s potential to carry a few vital changes in corporate behavior is exaggerated. Whereas corporate social responsibility is usually a useful gizmo alongside laws and regulations, it cannot completely exchange them. The development that may be expected is much extra modest than recent breathless writing on CSR would indicate. Sooner or later, many companies should choose between doing what seems ethically proper and what’s most profitable.
The Market for Virtue book assesses whether or not CSR is critical for enterprise survival or success, or whether or not it merely preserves current state of affairs. It does this by assessing the affect of the driving forces for virtue.
Writer discusses current CSR initiatives and responds to new developments in the CSR debate. He asserts that while the movement has achieved success in improving some labor, human rights, and environmental practices in growing countries, there are limits to enhancing corporate conduct without extra in depth and effective regulation. Put merely, Vogel believes that there is a market for virtue, but it’s restricted by the substantial prices of socially accountable business behavior.
The Market for Virtue: The Potential And Limits of Corporate Social Responsibility [Paperback]
David Vogel
Brookings Institution Press (August 1, 2006)
222 pages
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