CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) is an increasingly important area of corporate and legal concern. In addition to problems defining the meaning of the term and understanding its implications, there is a lack of understanding about how it can, does, and should interact with law. This paper answers this gap using a method used in the sociology of law: systems theory. The paper argues that CSR can be understood as a response to social costs and law’s apparent failure to curb those costs. It focuses the examination on social costs generated by large industrial organizations and how they are regulated by public and private regulatory systems. It concludes with an innovative suggestion integrating ideas from ecological economic systems with both new and traditional regulatory solutions.

Article as originally published: the author has requested revisions to page 3.