Since the publication of the 1987 report Our Common Future by the World Commission on Environment and Development, the concepts of sustainability and sustainable development have become increasingly prominent in both public and academic debate. Much of the discussion on sustainability has been devoted to how companies can contribute to sustainable development, i.e. what is usually referred to as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Studies on CSR have grown into an extensive research area over the last 20 years, mainly in the disciplines of management and business administration, but also to some extent in economics. A significant part of the empirical research deals with the relationship between CSR and financial performance. To some extent, there are also theoretical analyses of the economic drivers and effects of CSR, but this research is still in its infancy; further theoretical studies in combination with econometric analysis are needed to better understand the mechanisms that drive CSR and the relationships with a number of fundamental economic aspects. Specifically, in the context of CSR, in six well-defined sub-projects we want to further investigate the role of shareholder preferences, uncertainty, causality, cost of capital, risk and policy/regulation.