Current Developments in Corporate Social Responsibility in the EU

The aim of this chapter is to introduce the concept of and current developments in corporate social responsibility in Europe, including the role of European institutions and their policies. The current trend in CSR, described as a corporate giving strategy that includes long-term commitments, is supported by the European Commission, which has declared it to be a responsible business behaviour that promotes sustainable growth and assumes responsibility for business’s societal impact. This chapter focuses on CSR standards and norms, namely, ISO 26000 and SA8000 (2012–2013). The focus is on Italy as a country with exceptionally developed CSR. An economic analysis of Italian companies, based on the Amadeus database, was conducted to identify profitability-related differences between companies that are SA8000 certified and companies that are not. Our conclusions based on the Italian case suggest that SA8000 certification can be a good competitive tool for a company, might be required by state institutions for public services or can be important for supply-chain management. In Italy, SA8000 was primarily used by larger, more profitable companies. In 2007–2012, both groups of Italian companies—those that were SA8000 certified and those that were not—were confronted by a decrease in all indicators of profitability in 2012 as compared to 2007. Finally, based on a difference in difference estimation strategy, SA8000 certification has a potentially positive impact on firm growth but not on firm profitability, which could support our opinion of the importance of SA8000 certificates for companies expanding to other markets.