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Corporate Social Responsibility Practice from 1800–1914: Past Initiatives and Current Debates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2015

Bryan W. Husted
Bryan W. Husted*
Affiliation:
Tecnológico de MonterreyYork University
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Abstract:

The history of the practice of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has largely been limited to the twentieth century, with a focus on the United States. This paper provides a brief introduction to CSR practice from the nineteenth century through World War I in the United Kingdom, United States, Japan, India, and Germany. The relevance of nineteenth-century CSR to current debates and research regarding the motivations for CSR, the business cases for CSR, stakeholder management, political CSR, industry self-regulation, and income inequality are also discussed.

Keywords

historical CSRcorporate social responsibilitypolitical CSRhistorical business ethics
Type
2014 Society for Business Ethics Presidential Address
Information
Business Ethics Quarterly , Volume 25 , Issue 1 , January 2015 , pp. 125 - 141
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Business Ethics 2014 

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