ArticleHarvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance

Why Shareholder-Driven Corporate Social Responsibility Failed

Mark J. Roe, 2026

https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2026/04/08/why-shareholder-driven-corporate-social-responsibility-failed/

What It Is: A short summary of Roe’s 2026 University of Pennsylvania Law Review article that analyzes why driving corporate social responsibility through large institutional investors with market-wide exposure to risks and opportunities was politically and legally unrealistic.

Why It Matters: Argues that the same political forces and voter sentiment that have historically blocked direct government action on issues such as climate also mobilized against private sector action once prominent. In particular, shows how acting on Responsibility requires a clear, defensible basis in Legitimacy.

How to Use It: Investors, business leaders and associations can use this article to make more accurate assessments of political opposition to CSR, and to develop more realistic responses and strategies. Roe suggests engaging political barriers more directly.

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181 – 200 of 416 results showing

ToolSNG Agora Institute

Conservative Principles for Building Trust in Elections

2023

To rebuild election trust among conservative voters, this Johns Hopkins–R Street tool outlines three actionable principles: affirm past election integrity, increase process transparency, and improve election operations. It pairs these with Gallup-backed data to guide civic leaders—including business—on addressing doubts without heightening polarization.

ReportClimate Governance Initiative

Corporate climate policy engagement: A briefing for board directors

2023

Conducting corporate climate policy engagement positively and appropriately is critical to creating the conditions that will enable a company to achieve its net zero transition. This briefing, produced by the Climate Governance Initiative in collaboration with the global think tank InfluenceMap, highlights the key issues that board directors should be aware of.

BookErb Corporate Political Responsibility Taskforce

Corporate Political Responsibility

Tom P. Lyon, 2023

An overview of the need for CPR and how the Erb Institute’s Corporate Political Responsibility Taskforce supports companies in aligning their approaches to political influence with their commitments to purpose, values, sustainability and stakeholders, while contributing to rebuilding trust in US civic institutions.

ArticleProMarket

Corporate Political Responsibility in a Captured Economy

Claudine Schneider and Ed Dolan, 2023

This article argues that corporate governance need to take account of a company's political responsibility and that the Erb Principles provide a helpful framework for doing so.

VideoCorporate Political Responsibility Taskforce

Corporate Political Responsibility: From Theory to Action

2023

ArticleFortune

Corporations were never supposed to write the rules

Maureen Kline, 2023

This article argues that "corporations were never supposed to write the rules of the game. Now they need to help make them better for capitalism to survive."

VideoCorporate Political Responsibility Taskforce

Could a Voluntary System Really Make a Difference?

Christine Mahoney of the University of Virginia, 2023

WebsiteHarvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance

CPA’s Guide to Corporate Political Spending: A Practical Guide for Management

Bruce F. Freed, Jeanne Hanna, Karl J. Sandstrom, Center for Political Accountability, 2023

This post summarizes the Center for Political Accountability’s Guide to Corporate Political Spending, which provides best practices for implementing the CPA-Zicklin Model Code. The Model Code identifies a company’s broader societal and democracy obligations and responsibilities that should govern its political spending decisions. This new Guide spells out what concrete steps and actions management should follow as it makes spending decisions and evaluates the accompanying risks.

VideoCorporate Political Responsibility Taskforce

Culture Wars, Backlash and the Current Political Climate

Sarah Bonk and Richard Eidlin of Business for America, 2023

VideoCorporate Political Responsibility Taskforce

Determining When it is Legitimate to Engage

Martin Reeves of BCG Henderson Institute, 2023

ToolDebevoise & Plimpton

ESG Investigations Tracker

2023

This tracker provides an overview of federal and state investigations into corporate ESG practices, highlighting lawsuits over misleading ESG claims by firms like BlackRock, government probes requesting information from asset managers and climate organizations, and legislative efforts aimed at limiting ESG considerations in investing. It offers essential insight into the shifting legal and reputational risks companies face in ESG governance.

WebsiteIGC Institute

Executive Guide to Navigating Our Complex Political, Social and Economic Environment

2023

This guide provides a good overview of how the current environment developed for companies and some tips that business leaders can use to navigate through the conflicting pressures.

ReportHarvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance

Financial Implications of Rising Political Risk in the US

Stephen Davis, 2023

This report explores the financial impacts of growing political instability in the U.S., emphasizing how shifts in policy and governance affect corporate decision-making, risk assessment, and long-term value. It outlines the importance of aligning business strategies with evolving political landscapes to protect financial interests.

ReportThe Heritage Foundation

Free Enterprise and the Common Good: Economic Science and Political Economy

Richard Reinsch, 2023

This report argues free enterprise supports both individual prosperity and societal well-being, advocating for competitive markets over government intervention to ensure long-term economic growth.

ArticleThe Heritage Foundation – Conservative Perspectives Series

Free Enterprise and the Common Good: Economic Science and Political–Economic Art as Complements

Alexander William Salter, 2023

This essay explores tensions between classical-liberal and national-conservative visions of markets and the common good. Drawing on Catholic social teaching and Wilhelm Röpke’s political economy, Salter argues that free enterprise and moral order must be treated as complements, not substitutes. He calls for dispersed property, subsidiarity, and policies that support economic independence, civic virtue, and human flourishing.

Related Topics to Check Out

Free Enterprise Competitive Markets (A) – Central theme: explores how markets serve the common good when balanced by moral and civic considerations rather than pure efficiency.

Healthy, Stable Systems (A) – Advocates dispersed property and subsidiarity to sustain freedom and prevent concentration of power—key CPR system-stability goals.

Corporate Citizenship (B) – Frames enterprise as a moral actor embedded in community life, with duties to uphold shared well-being beyond profit.

Responsibility (B) – Highlights the moral obligations of firms and policymakers to design markets that sustain families, workers, and civic order.

ToolClimate-lobbying.com

Global Standards on Responsible Climate Lobbying

2023

This framework guides companies to align lobbying with climate goals, focusing on transparent reporting, board oversight, and annual reviews to support efforts to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C.

ReportGreenwash Action Lab

Greenwashing 3.0: Why addressing greenwashing remains as important as ever

2023

This report outlines how corporate greenwashing tactics have become more sophisticated, shifting from exaggerated claims to subtler misrepresentations and legal obfuscation. It highlights emerging regulatory gaps, critiques industry self-regulation, and calls for more robust public accountability frameworks to ensure environmental claims align with actual business practices.

VideoCorporate Political Responsibility Taskforce

Helping Business Prepare for a Proactive, Principled Response

Daniella Ballou-Aares and Lauren Caplan, 2023

ArticleHarvard Business Review

How and when should companies engage in the political process

Ed Dolan, 2023

This article explores the need for companies to think about political responsibility, not just social responsibility.

ArticleNetwork for Business Sustainability

How Can Companies Use their Political Influence Responsibly?

Tom Lyon & Elizabeth Doty, 2023

This article summarizes the rationale for corporate political responsibility and explains the four Erb Principles, which are an actionable, non-partisan template that companies can use to decide whether and how to engage in political influence.

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