RETROSPECTIVE OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY THROUGH THE DEVELOPMENT OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT

Abstract

The main goal of this paper is to analyze and review the history and current state of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), examining, for this purpose, the economic thought development. Also, we aimed at identifying the main characteristics or variables that contributed to the proposed new concepts of what a modern company should be, based on concepts such as: self-sufficient and sustainable company, socially responsible company, corporate social responsibility or simply corporate social responsibility. The current extraordinary mistrust (of people and businesses on other companies and entrepreneurs) in several major industrialized economies, warns us once again and, looking at the future, as individuals or society we should not leave all the responsibility of our lives and interests to the institutions, whether private or public, because it is more than proved that the paternalistic state or states with only invisible hands, are highly susceptible to social mistakes.