ABSTRACT
A lot of the encouragement of csr in the region has come from the us and Europe in terms of norms and vocabulary, but more importantly in terms of big companies improving their supply chains in the region or their regionally based projects. Despite the recent major business scandals in the United States, the functional governments and legal frameworks of the North assure that businesses generally act in the interests of society. In the South, governments are less effective at playing this role. The increase of democracy in the region has created opportunities for people to speak out, and, as governments fall behind in meeting social needs, pressure increases on the private sector. Latin American companies feel cornered and without recourse because of inefficient government. Brazil has in fact become the regional powerhouse of csr, with about 500 companies there issuing citizenship reports following the guidelines of Brazil's Ethos Institute.
