Corporate Social Responsibility and the Environment A Theoretical Perspective英文文献.pdfVIP

Review of Environmental Economics and Policy Advance Access published July 11, 2008 1 Corporate Social Responsibility and the Environment: A Theoretical Perspective Thomas P. Lyon∗ and John W. Maxwell∗∗ Introduction Companies increasingly desire to appear “green.” Toyota and Bank of America have new buildings that are Gold-certified by the US Green Building Council. Dell Computer allows customers to buy carbon offsets when they purchase a new computer. Nike plans to be carbon neutral by 2011. The US Climate Action Partnership—which includes Alcoa, BP, and GE—even lobbies for government regulation of greenhouse gas emissions. Despite creeping concerns that some of these actions may be mere “greenwash,” for the most part they are welcomed by employees, consumers, investors, regulators, and the public. After all, it seems intuitive that voluntary actions that internalize environmental externalities are socially responsible. But to what extent can voluntary action substitute for government mandates? Might the two be complements instead of substitutes? Is it appropriate for the private sector, instead of government, to determine which environmental issues deserve priority treatment? Is it socially desirable for managers to take costly environmental initiatives at the expense of shareholders? Such questions tend to elicit strong reactions. Fortunately, these questions are attracting increasing attention from economists, who are in the process of building the theories needed to address them objectively. This article, which is part of a three-article symposium on cor- porate