Milton Friedman and corporate social responsibility

This web page contains resources for related to the following academic article:

• Evans, A.J., “Is economic familiarity a necessary prerequisite for understanding Milton Friedman’s view of shareholder primacy? Reflections on a classroom exercise.” Working Paper

It is based on the following opinion piece by Milton Friedman:

• Friedman, M., “The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits” New York Times Magazine, September 13th 1970.

Sequence

The original sequence of interventions was as follows:

1. 1. Students took quiz 1 under exam conditions.
   2. Students were then asked to read the Friedman article before the next session.
   3. Students took quiz 2, which tested their comprehension of the Friedman article.
   4. Students received the “Concepts” and “Cases” handouts. They were given 20 minutes to read the handouts.
   5. Students took quiz 3, which included a reflection on the exercise as a whole.

Links:

• Concepts
• Cases
• Cases (Solution) – an instructor resource, available on request

Quizzes:

Part 1 – this gathered information about the participants for the original study.

Part 2 – this should be used after the reading the Friedman article. This quiz can be a standalone activity for instructors who simply want to test student comprehension.

Part 3 – this should be used after the reading the Friedman article and the handouts. This is more focused on applying the Concepts to the Cases.

• Category: pedagogy