IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/wtowps/ersd202111.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Buena vista: Social corporate responsibility provisions in regional trade agreements

Author

Listed:
  • Monteiro, José-Antonio

Abstract

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become an integral part of many companies' business strategy. A detailed analysis of 579 RTAs, including 305 agreements currently in force and notified to the WTO (as of December 2020), reveals that a limited but increasing number of RTAs, namely 65 agreements, refer explicitly to CSR. These CSR-related provisions are particularly heterogeneous in terms of location in the RTA, language, scope and commitments. An increasing number of RTAs incorporate an article dedicated to CSR in different chapters, including on investment, labour or environment. Most CSR-related provisions are formulated in best endeavour language. These provisions promote the voluntary adoption and respect of CSR, including internationally recognized CSR principles standards and guidelines. Building on provisions included in some bilateral investment treaties (BITs), only a couple of recent RTAs have expanded the scope of CSR-related provisions by requiring investors to make their best efforts to comply with some of the principles established under the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.

Suggested Citation

  • Monteiro, José-Antonio, 2021. "Buena vista: Social corporate responsibility provisions in regional trade agreements," WTO Staff Working Papers ERSD-2021-11, World Trade Organization (WTO), Economic Research and Statistics Division.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:wtowps:ersd202111
    DOI: 10.30875/26222a15-en
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/232954/1/1753158680.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.30875/26222a15-en?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Roland Bénabou & Jean Tirole, 2010. "Individual and Corporate Social Responsibility," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 77(305), pages 1-19, January.
    2. Monteiro, José-Antonio, 2021. "The evolution of gender-related provisions in regional trade agreements," WTO Staff Working Papers ERSD-2021-8, World Trade Organization (WTO), Economic Research and Statistics Division.
    3. Monteiro, José-Antonio, 2018. "Gender-related provisions in regional trade agreements," WTO Staff Working Papers ERSD-2018-15, World Trade Organization (WTO), Economic Research and Statistics Division.
    4. Besley, Timothy & Ghatak, Maitreesh, 2007. "Retailing public goods: The economics of corporate social responsibility," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(9), pages 1645-1663, September.
    5. Newman, Carol & Rand, John & Tarp, Finn & Trifkovic, Neda, 2018. "The transmission of socially responsible behaviour through international trade," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 250-267.
    6. Peels, Rafael. & Echeverria Manrique, Elizabeth. & Aissi, Jonas. & Schneider, Anselm., 2016. "Corporate social responsibility in international trade and investment agreements implications for states, business and workers," ILO Working Papers 994949191002676, International Labour Organization.
    7. Markus Kitzmueller & Jay Shimshack, 2012. "Economic Perspectives on Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 50(1), pages 51-84, March.
    8. Monteiro, José-Antonio, 2016. "Typology of environment-related provisions in regional trade agreements," WTO Staff Working Papers ERSD-2016-13, World Trade Organization (WTO), Economic Research and Statistics Division.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Herkenhoff, Philipp & Krautheim, Sebastian & Semrau, Finn Ole & Steglich, Frauke, 2024. "Corporate Social Responsibility along the global value chain," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    2. Banerjee, Shantanu & Homroy, Swarnodeep & Slechten, Aurélie, 2022. "Stakeholder preference and strategic corporate social responsibility," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    3. Herkenhoff, Philipp & Krautheim, Sebastian & Semrau, Finn Ole & Steglich, Frauke, 2024. "Corporate Social Responsibility along the global value chain," Open Access Publications from Kiel Institute for the World Economy 301393, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    4. Hart, Oliver D. & Zingales, Luigi, 2017. "Companies Should Maximize Shareholder Welfare Not Market Value," Working Papers 267, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State.
    5. Becchetti, Leonardo & Palestini, Arsen & Solferino, Nazaria & Elisabetta Tessitore, M., 2014. "The socially responsible choice in a duopolistic market: A dynamic model of “ethical product” differentiation," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 114-123.
    6. Ambec, Stefan & De Donder, Philippe, 2022. "Environmental policy with green consumerism," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    7. Paul Pecorino, 2016. "A Portion of Profits to Charity: Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Profitability," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 83(2), pages 380-398, October.
    8. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/7fsnj6af7v9ncrf76qn5p5on9e is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Etilé, Fabrice & Teyssier, Sabrina, 2013. "Corporate social responsibility and the economics of consumer social responsibility," Review of Agricultural and Environmental Studies - Revue d'Etudes en Agriculture et Environnement (RAEStud), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), vol. 94(2).
    10. Schinkel, Maarten Pieter & Treuren, Leonard, 2024. "Corporate social responsibility by joint agreement," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    11. Doni, Nicola & Ricchiuti, Giorgio, 2013. "Market equilibrium in the presence of green consumers and responsible firms: A comparative statics analysis," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 380-395.
    12. Kameshwari Shankar & Suman Ghosh, 2022. "Price discrimination through cause‐related marketing," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 787-817, November.
    13. Rachel Croson & Nicolas Treich, 2014. "Behavioral Environmental Economics: Promises and Challenges," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 58(3), pages 335-351, July.
    14. Barigozzi, Francesca & Tedeschi, Piero, 2019. "On the credibility of ethical banking," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 381-402.
    15. Dina Kassab, 2020. "Tax Exemptions of Ethical Products Revisited," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 77(2), pages 423-447, October.
    16. John A. List & Fatemeh Momeni, 2021. "When Corporate Social Responsibility Backfires: Evidence from a Natural Field Experiment," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(1), pages 8-21, January.
    17. Newman, Carol & Rand, John & Tarp, Finn & Trifkovic, Neda, 2018. "The transmission of socially responsible behaviour through international trade," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 250-267.
    18. Steve Martin, 2019. "Moral management in competitive markets," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(3), pages 541-560, June.
    19. Franz W. Wagner, 2019. "Unternehmensbesteuerung und Corporate Social Responsibility [Business Taxation and Corporate Social Responsibility]," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 71(3), pages 347-380, November.
    20. Dina KASSAB, 2018. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Regulation: Taxing Ethical behaviour," Working Papers 2018.17, FAERE - French Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.
    21. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/7fsnj6af7v9ncrf76qn5p5on9e is not listed on IDEAS
    22. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/7fsnj6af7v9ncrf76qn5p5on9e is not listed on IDEAS
    23. Samwick, Andrew A. & Wang, Sophie, 2024. "Corporate social responsibility and voting over public goods," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Regional Trade Agreements; Corporate social responsibility; Labour; Environment; Inclusiveness;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:zbw:wtowps:ersd202111. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/wtoerch.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.