Legal Study On Corporate Social Responsibility

Since its formation in early 20th century, the modern theory of corporate social responsibilities has always been a controversial topic both in theoretical and practical circles. The debates continues today, however the focus has been shifted from whether corporate should take social responsibilities to how to reasonably define corporate social responsibilities and how to realize it effectively .Besides, under the background of economic globalization, the social responsibilities of multinational corporations is increasingly getting more attentions.The author think that the undertaking of corporate social responsibilities is the necessary outcome of modern market economic system. Based on this ,the structure of this book is as follows: Chapter I, exploration of the ideological basis and foundational issues of corporate social responsibilities. This section will introduce the formation and evolution of corporate social responsibility theory and discuss its legitimacy basis by analyzing the existing theoretical views. On the premise that corporate social responsibilities is legitimate, the author will discuss the concept and content of corporate social responsibility through analyzing current socio-economic conditions.Chapter II, the legal enforcement mechanisms of corporate social responsibility : take Company Law for example. The traditional opinions ,which consider Corporate as merely a tool to maximize the interests of shareholders of the company, has been challenged by the corporate social responsibility theory. And to realize social responsibility of a company , the reform of existing company governance structure is essential. In this chapter ,by discussing the related regulations of corporate stakeholders in the laws of US?Britain and Germany ,the author will analyze existing internal governance structures of companies and explore how the corporate donation system regulates the implementation of corporate social responsibility.Chapter III,related issues on the legal enforcement mechanism of transnational corporations social responsibilities. With distinct features differs from domestic firms and larger range of related market elements, multinational companies became the most active market players during the economic globalization. However,under current international economic conditions, the limitation from many objective factors as well as the circumvent of multinational companies to maximize their investment benefits lead to lack of effective control on multinational corporations activities. This chapter, outlining the fundemental issues ,will discuss the code of conduct for transnational corporations self-regulation as well as the regulations on the social responsibility of transnational corporations from the perspective of both international law and domestic law.Chapter IV, analysis of the current legal enforcement mechanisms of corporate social responsibility in China and some recommendations on its improvements. This chapter will discuss the necessity of company undertaking social responsibility in practice from the perspective of social enviroment based on which Company Law was formed in China ,and analyze all the existing laws and regulations in China through identifying specific objects of corporate social responsibility. At last some recommendations will be proposed if necessary.As for research methods of this book, just as the well-known contemporary sociologists and political thinker Antonio·Giddens said,“We now should be problem driven instead of discipline driven, and problem should be the most important decisive factor for us. We should not feel that we have some sort of obligation or responsibility to be limited to a particular area, or regard ourselves as disciplinary scholars”. Corporate social responsibility is a social-scientific research topic that involves many disciplines .However, due to the author's professional background and the subject under discussion , this book will mainly adopt approach that frequently used in legal research.Further explanations need to be made on the topics of this book. They are as follows:1. The terms selection for“corporate social responsibility”. As the Chinese translation for“corporate social responsibility, CSR”, both“??????”and“??????”have been used in relevant writings of domestic scholars. This book adopts“??????”as the translation for "corporate social responsibility" , and the reasons are as follows: Firstly , as the upperseat concept of corporate, enterprise shall include personal-owned enterprises?partnership enterprises and other non-corporate enterprise forms. However, it can't be denied that in a modern market economy, companies are the most important and more common market players ,and they intend to impose bigger influence on economy and society than other enterprises forms. The fact that this book adopts the title of“??????”doesn't necessarily leads to the conclusion that other non-corporate enterprises should not bear the social responsibilities. The reason for this choice is that corporate social responsibility assuming is the most typical one.Moreover, strictly speaking ,the definition for this title should be even narrower, that is“specifically refers to commercial enterprises, not including foreign enterprises and non-commercial enterprises in enterprises legislation”. Secondly, in practice,“corporate”is generally translated as“??”while“??”is corresponding with“enterprise”. In addition , the title“??????”is more frequently used in practical and academic fields in China.2. Corporate social responsibility or corporate social obligations? Some scholars believe that“obligations”in a legal sense is often associated with“duty”. Where there is a responsibility there is an duty, therefore it would be more precise to define corporate social as“??????”?The author perceives that legal obligations and legal responsibilities are a pair of concepts which are closely connected yet different, for duty is a primary concerpt and obligation is secondary and is the result of violation of specific duties. However, the definition of corporate social obligations to a large extent has already shifted from the originally moral obligation to a legal obligation established by national legislation, so it is pointless to discuss whether it is a“corporate social responsibility”or“corporate social obligation”.Just as Voltaire had said,“the Holy Roman Empire was neither holy nor Roman nor an empire, but this does not prevent us from using the term”. Moreover,“??????”for“corporate social responsibility”has been generally accepted in practical and academic field, and“responsibilities"”in corporate social responsibilities in essence refers to“duties”. The author will also use the title“??????”in this book.