ABSTRACT
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) concerns what companies and other institutions do in respect to wider goals than just satisfying their shareholders' need for financial returns. This chapter looks at CSR from their point of view—investment that is socially responsible as well as aimed at financial return. Investment involves the commitment of a capital sum for financial benefits to be received in the future in the form of an income flow or capital gain or a combination of both. Environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing principles are best described as fundamentals that have the potential to affect companies' financial performances sufficiently to warrant investors' attention, yet are generally not part of traditional financial analysis. Socially responsible investment (SRI) has also spawned an industry of advisers, consultants and conference organizers. Community investment institutions use investor capital to finance or guarantee loans to individuals and organizations that have historically been denied access to capital by traditional financial institutions.
