Managerial Behavior and the Social Responsibility Debate: Goals Versus Constraints

Abstract

This paper examines the “popular” view of the social responsibility of business as advanced by George Steiner, Keith Davis and others and the “traditional” position so frequently associated with economists. This analysis suggests that part of the apparent difference between these viewpoints is semantic. However, one substantive difference is a primary assumption regarding what goals corporate managers pursue. A testable hypothesis is deduced from the Steiner-Davis argument and compared with behavioral evidence on corporate philanthropy. The results imply a change in the constraints for business rather than a change in the goals of business.