Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a radical doctrine. It embodies a new and wider conception of the role of private business and the way in which it should be conducted. David Henderson outlines views on CSR and identifies true and false versions of the concept. He offers a critique of some modern variants, and concludes that the adoption of misguided CSR doctrines by business, with the support or acquiescence of governments, would reduce welfare and undermine the market economy.

David Henderson was head of the Economics and Statistics Department of the OECD and is now an independent author and consultant.