Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1 Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law & Political Science, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran Corresponding Author Email: hadi.salehi@shirazu.ac.ir
2 PhD, Faculty of law, Queens University, Kingston, Canada
Abstract
The role and relationship of corporate social responsibility (CSR) within the legal system have always been a subject of debate. The question of whether CSR is a voluntary or mandatory mechanism is increasingly being questioned today, given the developments in some national and international systems such as the European Union. This article, using legal theory on ethics, highlights the link between legal and ethical responsibilities and outlines a two-way interaction between the economic goals of companies and corporate social responsibilities to show that corporate social responsibility commitments are closely linked to the legal obligations of businesses. Since these commitments are also related to corporate accountability, this paper, focusing on the concept of stakeholders in ethical and legal approaches, shows that a large part of the scope of corporate social responsibility commitments is mandatory, not voluntary. However, this obligation may not arise from a law in the narrow sense and state-centered.
Keywords
References
Books
- Basu, Kashik, Republic of Beliefs: A New Approach to Law and Economics, translated by Gholamreza Bakhshi Khaniki and Majid Omidi, Tehran: Rozena Publications, 2021. (in Persian)
- Beaks, Brian, The Language of Legal Theory, translated by Mohammad Rasek, Tehran: Nay Publishing, 2010. (in Persian)
- Boeger, N., Murray, R., & Villiers, C. (Eds.), Perspectives on Corporate Social Responsibility. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2008.
- Carroll, Archie and Anne Buchlet, Business and Society: Ethics and Stakeholder Management, translated by Mohammad Jaaf Nazari, Tehran: Donyayeh Eqtesad Publications, 2019. (in Persian)
- Desjardins, Joseph, Ethics and Environment, An Introduction to Environmental Philosophy, translated by Mehdi Kolahi, Tehran: Research Institute for Culture, Art and Communication, 2017. (in Persian)
- Haji Arab, Maryam, Dworkin and Legal Epistemology, Selected Articles on the Issue of the Principle and Taking Rights Seriously, Tehran: Negah Moaser Publishing, 2023. (in Persian)
- Kennedy, Duncan, Baudouin Bakkert, Miro Sirar, Law is Politics, translated by Habibollah Fazeli, Tehran: Negarestan Andisheh Publishing House, 2021. (in Persian)
- Khraafblant, Johan, Ethics and Economics: An Introduction to Free Markets, Equality, and Happiness, translated by Vahid Musa Davar, Dexa Cultural Institute, 2023. (in Persian)
- Movahed, Mohammad Ali, Right and Abuse of Right, Tehran: Karname Publishing House, 2018. (in Persian)
- Movahed, Mohammad Ali, In Search of Right and Justice, Tehran: Karname Publishing House, 2002. (in Persian)
- Rasekh, Mohammad, Right and Expediency: Essays in the Philosophy of Law, Philosophy of Right and Philosophy of Value, Vol. 2, Tehran: Nay Publishing House, 2013. (in Persian)
- Rawls, John, The Priority of Right and Conceptions of the Good, translated by Ali Haghi, Tehran: Negah Moaser Publishing House, 2019. (in Persian)
- Wacks, Raymond, Law: A Very Short Introduction, translated by Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini and Mohammad Najafi Kalyani, Tehran: Negah Moaser Publishing House, 2021. (in Persian)
Articles
- Akrami, Musa, “Can One Be Completely Hayekian? Social Justice: The Long-Standing Ideal of Scientific and Philosophical Collaboration”, Siyastanameh, No. 14, 2019.pp 135-157. https://3danet.ir/social-justice-a-critique-hayek/ (in Persian)
- Anderson, G. M., & Tollison, R. D.”Adam Smith’s Analysis of Joint-Stock Companies”. Journal of Political Economy, 90, NO 6, 1982, PP 1237–1256. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1830946/
- Bagheri, Mahmoud and Mehrdad Sadeghian-Nadushan, “Stakeholder Theory in Corporate Law”, Judgement Quarterly, Vol. 16, No. 87, 2016, PP. 27-58. https://www.magiran.com/p1655267 (in Persian)
- Beckers, A. “Towards A Regulatory Private Law Approach for CSR Self-Regulation? The Effect of Private Law on Corporate CSR Strategies”. European Review of Private Law, 27, No 2. 2019, pp 221-243. https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3369596/
- Chahraghani, Ahmad, "Adam Smith, The Moral Economist", Economic Journal, No. 5 & 6, 2019. pp 83-109. (in Persian)
- Fleckner, Andreas Martin, “Adam Smith on the Joint Stock Company”, Working Paper of the Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance No. 2016-1. Pp 1-57. Available at SSRN: http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2721811/
- Kazemi, Zamhrir, "From Market Failure to State Failure: The Conflict Between Marketists and Statists in the Modern Era," Journal of Theoretical Politics, No. 18, 2015. pp 127-168 Available from: https://sid.ir/paper/136156/fa (in Persian)
- McBarnet, Doreen, “Corporate Social Responsibility Beyond Law, Through Law, for Law: the new corporate accountability” (U. of Edinburgh School of Law Working Paper No. 2009/03, 2009, pp 1-63. Available at SSRN: http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1369305/
- Nouri Youshanloui, Jafar and Saeed Johar, "Conceptology of Corporate Social Responsibility in German, French, English and Iranian Law with a Comparative Approach", Comparative Law Studies, 2014. Pp 603-627. (in Persian) doi:10.22059/jcl.2014.52957
- Sadeghi, Mohammad and Parisa Ahmadlou, “Social Responsibility of Commercial Companies; From Doubts to Legal Implications”, Culmination of Law, Vol. 8, No. 4, 2023, PP. 283-311. https://www.magiran.com/p2555935/(in Persian)
- Tamvada, M. “Corporate Social Responsibility and Accountability: A New Theoretical Foundation for Regulating CSR”. International Journal Corporate Social Responsibility ,Vol 5,
)