STUDY ON ECONOMIC ACTORS’ SOCIETAL RESPONSIBILITY Research Report on the Situation in Latin America Ismael Muñoz Portugal* SEPTEMBER 2005 __________________________________ Economist. Professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and president of the Economy of Solidarity Network of Peru. Email:
[email protected] I would like to acknowledge the collaboration of the following people in the preparation of this document: Miguel Martínez, Elisa Seguin and Alejandra Muñoz, economics students who researched some of the information; Alfonso Cotera, who contributed to the development of the Latin American case studies; Willy Amaya, who contributed to an expanded view of certain issues and an overall reorganization of the text; Humberto Ortiz Roca for his comments and suggestions; Celine Buon for the translation of the preliminary document from Spanish to English; and Barbara Fraser for the English translation of the final version. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction Evaluation of the current situation 1. Corporate Social Responsibility today a. Current definition b. Origins c. Motives d. Analysis of the evolution of CSR 2. The current situation in different parts of the world and its impact on CSR a. Perceptions of Corporate Social Responsibility b. Institutional context c. Norms, standards, labels 3. Involvement of stakeholders a. Companies b. Civil Society (NGOs, trade unions, etc.) c. Public stakeholders 4. Requirements for CSR: prospects, vision and outlook for the future a. Global needs b. Needs in the region 5. Challenges and prospects a. Global CSR practices b. Approaches: the multi-stakeholder approach and citizen oversight c. North-South relations Cases studies References 2 INTRODUCTION The issue of corporate social responsibility is gaining increasing relevance in our continent in terms of both conceptualization and prospects for the future.