Corporate Social Responsibility and Public Policy

In recent times, the debate about corporate social responsibility (CSR) has moved to the public policy sphere, especially regarding the function that the public powers must perform to promote the philosophy of CSR. A good number of governments in advanced economies have adopted formal policies to disseminate the CSR culture. These governments contribute to an environment that fosters attention to CSR, adding motivations, instruments and human and institutional capacities in which they have and ought to have space for public as well as private actors, keeping in mind international standards and practices as priorities and national and local particularities. Through a bibliographic, documentary review, the study offers a reflection about the principal problems affecting the design of public policies that motivate CSR. Conclusions are that the decided impulse by governments in designing effective CSR policies passes for their being convinced about the potential of CSR as a powerful lever for social change.