CED 460WPolicy, Politics and Perspectives on Social & Environmental Responsibility

3 credits · Community Environment and Development · Penn State

Social and environmental responsibility often is viewed very differently by various stakeholders, such as consumers, investors, businesses, labor government, and others. The elements and issues they consider as important elements within social and environmental justice, and how they weight each element, can vary significantly across stakeholders. The terminology used to describe this work similarly differs (i.e. sustainability, social responsibility, corporate citizenship, corporate social responsibility, etc.), which can lead to misunderstandings. This course examines the differing perspectives that consumers, investors, businesses, labor, government, and others have towards social and environmental responsibility, and the differing roles that each stakeholder plays. Such roles can range from individual choices about what to purchase and consume, where to invest, and where to work, to collective and organizational choices, such as about what services or products to offer, how these are produced, and where/how supplies are obtained. The course uses institutional and behavioral economic concepts of the interdependent nature of the market, as a theoretical framework for understanding the interdependence of various stakeholders' opportunities and decisions, and the influence of the public policy.