In Defense of E. Merrick Dodd: Corporate Social Responsibility in Modern Corporate Law and Investment Strategy

摘要

This response to E. Merrick Dodd and the Rise and Fall of Corporate Stakeholder Theory by Charles Elson and Nicholas Goossen argues that stakeholder theory has not failed, but rather has been incorporated into standard business practice through the widely accepted principles of corporate social responsibility ("CSR"). Forty years of research demonstrates that CSR contributes or may even be essential to profitability, which may explain why investments in ESG funds have grown dramatically in recent years, even among institutional investors. This response also examines many of the legal and economic theories that Elson and Goossen employ in their attack on stakeholder theory, and argues that they are, at best, debatable.