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CSR is often defined as activities that go beyond the firm´s interest. This is true only if interest is defined narrowly. The key result from this thesis is that enlightened firms, with a sufficient long-term horizon for the maximisation of profits, manage their resources in such way that the society perceives them to be Socially Responsible. To obtain this result, first a distinction is made between CSR as differentiation strategy and efficient resource management. Despite a rapidly increasing number of publications, the economic literature on CSR has only dealt with the former and still lacks a coherent theoretical framework of analysis. This thesis provides one, also considering the view of CSR as efficient resource management. CSR is defined as "every activity that a firm undertakes voluntarily, based on an economic incentive, resulting in the full or partial internalisation of the externalities on the society and the environment associated with the firm´s production". It studies the different motivations why firms to engage in CSR and the effects of CRS on the firms´ location choice and their interaction through the market.

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Fabio Balboni holds a Degree in Economics, a MSc in International Relations and a PhD in Law and Economics from the University of Bologna. He also holds a MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics. He previously worked for the European Commission and the UNDP Trinidad & Tobago, and currently works for HM Treasury in London

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