기업의 사회적 책임과 법적 질서 :자유주의 시장경제질서와 사회적 자본으로서의 신뢰에 대하여

The corporate social responsibility and business ethics were introduced when laissez-faire economic order exposed its limits and was converted into Keynesian interventionalism in early 20th century due to social conflicts, such as class struggle. The importance was emphasized on a new level in the face of economic environmental changes such as information revolution and globalization. From a business management point of view, as corporate survival and changed environment in management strategy should be accommodated and adapted, corporate ethics have changed from negative to positive, from internal to external and have been expanded and reorganized into global business management. From an economic point of view, corporate social responsibility has been understood within a narrow range based on the thought that a social interest can be effectively accomplished if laissez-faire economics exist, that is, if corporations pursue optimalization. However, even though it is based on market fundamentalism, there is an assumption that the optimalization for profit maximization should be pursued under the condition of legitimacy. As the legitimacy assumed here means legitimacy as a social consensus derived as a result of social public choice on the efficiency and equity of market economy, it can be understood as a result of political public choice and neo-classical economics is not enough to present a persuasive demonstration on it. The 21st century market economic order asks us to present a synthesis and such a historical demand requires a new interpretation of corporate social responsibility. It should be recognized that the new order required by the 21st century capitalism(including Korea) is an accumulation of social capital such as ethics, moral and social responsibility and the key of social capital is ‘trust’ between social members. The ‘trust’ required for social capital by 21st century free market economic order uses active and dynamic social responsibility of corporations as an economic subject, especially, as conglomerates as key materials. In particular, in establishing the range of corporate social responsibility in Korean society, we have to emphasize the principle of legitimacy. Major events where corporate social responsibility was a point at issue in the U.S.A. or Korea happened due to illegal or evasive behavior of conglomerates. So, in establishing the legal standards of this society that are propositions of the legitimacy principle, we have to establish the principle of constitutional law based on a free market economic order that modifies market failure effectively instead of a laissez-faire economic order. For this, the study suggests that we have to review the historical process and theoretical achievements of the German social market economic order and develop interdisciplinary approaches on basic economic order in our economic constitutional law based on all the principles of competitional order presented by W. Eucken and theoretical and positive achievements of modem economics. When an organized system of economic law, financial law and tax law is prepared, the contents of corporate social responsibility on a legal level will be decided.