The Market for Virtue

The Potential and Limits of Corporate Social Responsibility

David Vogel

• Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
• Year: 2007
• Edition: 2
• eBook ISBN:
  9780815742425
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

In the highly praised The Market for Virtue, David Vogel presents a clear, balanced analysis of the contemporary corporate social responsibility (CSR) movement in the United States and Europe. In this updated paperback edition, Vogel discusses recent 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 developing countries, there are limits to improving corporate conduct without more extensive and effective government regulation. Put simply, Vogel believes that there is a market for virtue, but it is limited by the substantial costs of socially responsible business behavior. Praise for the cloth edition: "The definitive guide to what corporate social responsibility can and cannot accomplish in a modern capitalist economy."—Robert B. Reich, Brandeis University, and former U.S. Secretary of Labor "Vogel raises a number of excellent points on the present and future of CSR."—Working Knowledge, Harvard Business School "A useful corrective to the view that CSR alone is the full answer to social problems."—Business Ethics "The study combines sound logic with illustrative cases, and advances the sophistication of the CSR debate considerably." —John G. Ruggie, Harvard University, co-architect of UN Global Compact

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Information
• Table of Contents
• Preface to the Paperback Edition
• Preface to the First Edition
• The Revival of Corporate Social Responsibility
• Is There a Business Case for Virtue
• What is the Demand for Virtue
• Corporate Responsibility for Working Conditions in Developing Countries
• Corporate Responsibility for the Environment
• Corporate Responsibility for Human Rights and Global Corporate Citizenship
• Beyond the Market for Virtue
• Notes
• Index
• Back Cover