About the project
The aim of the project is to interpret CSR as an idea of how to organize the relationship between state, market and civil society in the pursuit of sustainable development. Using this approach, one can link the analysis to the large body of academic literature on how ideas are disseminated, interpreted and implemented, and on how the relationship between state, market and civil society has changed under the forces of globalization. The empirical focus is on the (inter-) actions and perceptions of business and government in the Scandinavian countries. Scandinavian companies are overrepresented on several key performance indicators of CSR, and the Scandinavian welfare states have a long tradition of active involvement with national business and civil society. Thus, the “Scandinavian Model” represents an interesting testing ground for hypotheses concerning the changing role of the state, on CSR as a competitive advantage of both companies and nations, and on as role of local and global influences on corporate behaviour.