I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Tata group’s code of conduct includes support for open markets and liberalisation!
A Tata company shall fully strive for the establishment and support of a competitive, open market economy in India and abroad and shall cooperate in the efforts to promote the progressive and judicious liberalisation of trade and investment by a country.”
This is what should be part of CSR of the company. Though i think generally CSR is not the best of terms. In any case, CSR should include not only support for free exchange but also a commitment not to demand subsidies from government or to use state power to undercut competition and so on. It would indeed be interesting to think of a liberal perspective on CSR, that is, what is consistent with the view that businesses that earn honest profits don’t really need to justify their existence by giving a bit of profits away.
The Liberal Institute in Germany has published a monograph of mine (allow me to indulge!) titled CSR: Capitalism at its best or an anti-capitalist mentality?
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The opinions expressed in this essay are those of the authors. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of CCS.
