A Systematic Review of Corporate Social Responsibility Practices in Emerging Markets
A K M Abu Zafor Shakil1*, Md Mofassel Hossain2, Md Miraj Hossen Khan3, Solaiman Islam Noyon4, Md. Baki Billah Ripon5
Business & Social Sciences 3(1) 1-8 https://doi.org/10.25163/business.3110211
Submitted: 20 January 2025 Revised: 20 January 2025 Published: 20 January 2025
Abstract
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has evolved into a strategic necessity, particularly within emerging markets where socio-economic disparities, institutional weaknesses, and regulatory gaps present both challenges and opportunities for businesses. This systematic review explores the diversity, motivations, and outcomes of CSR practices across emerging economies in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. Drawing from peer-reviewed literature, industry reports, and case studies published before 2018, the study categorizes CSR initiatives into key themes, including environmental sustainability, community development, employee welfare, and ethical governance. The review highlights how the complexities of emerging markets such as political instability, corruption, and social inequality have encouraged firms to develop adaptive, hybrid CSR models that blend global standards with local realities. It also explores the significant roles played by multinational corporations, local enterprises, and public-private collaborations in advancing CSR agendas. Beyond philanthropic gestures, CSR in these regions often fills gaps left by state institutions, enhancing corporate legitimacy and long-term competitiveness. Despite facing challenges like greenwashing, limited stakeholder engagement, and inconsistent reporting standards, CSR remains a powerful vehicle for institutional reform and inclusive growth. The findings suggest that CSR in emerging markets is neither uniform nor static but a dynamic and evolving practice shaped by both global pressures and local imperatives. This review offers valuable insights for scholars, policymakers, and business leaders aiming to harness CSR as a tool for sustainable development and social transformation in the global south.Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility, Emerging Markets, Sustainable Development, Institutional Challenges, Ethical Governance.
References
| Abreu, M. C. S. D., David, F. J., & Crowther, D. (2005). Corporate social responsibility in Portugal: Empirical evidence of corporate behaviour. Corporate Governance: The International Journal of Business in Society, 5(5), 3-18. https://doi.org/10.1108/14720700510630013 |
||||
| Aguilera, R. V., Rupp, D. E., Williams, C. A., & Ganapathi, J. (2007). Putting the S back in corporate social responsibility: A multilevel theory of social change in organizations. Academy of Management Review, 32(3), 836-863. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2007.25275678 |
||||
| Amaeshi, K., Adi, B., Ogbechie, C., & Amao, O. (2006). Corporate social responsibility in Nigeria: Western mimicry or indigenous influences? Journal of Corporate Citizenship, 24, 83-99. https://doi.org/10.9774/GLEAF.4700.2006.wi.00009 |
||||
| Blowfield, M. (2005). Corporate social responsibility: Reinventing the meaning of development? International Affairs, 81(3), 515-524. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2346.2005.00466.x |
||||
| Blowfield, M., & Frynas, J. G. (2005). Setting new agendas: Critical perspectives on corporate social responsibility in the developing world. International Affairs, 81(3), 499-513. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2346.2005.00465.x |
||||
| Bowen, H. R. (1953). Social responsibilities of the businessman. Harper & Row. | ||||
| Carroll, A. B. (1991). The pyramid of corporate social responsibility: Toward the moral management of organizational stakeholders. Business Horizons, 34(4), 39-48. https://doi.org/10.1016/0007-6813(91)90005-G |
||||
| Carroll, A. B. (1999). Corporate social responsibility: Evolution of a definitional construct. Business & Society, 38(3), 268-295. https://doi.org/10.1177/000765039903800303 |
||||
| Chapple, W., & Moon, J. (2005). Corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Asia: A seven-country study of CSR web site reporting. Business & Society, 44(4), 415-441. https://doi.org/10.1177/0007650305281658 |
||||
| Crane, A., Matten, D., & Spence, L. J. (2008). Corporate social responsibility: Readings and cases in a global context. Routledge. | ||||
| Dahlsrud, A. (2008). How corporate social responsibility is defined: An analysis of 37 definitions. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 15(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.132 |
||||
| Davis, K. (1973). The case for and against business assumption of social responsibilities. Academy of Management Journal, 16(2), 312-322. https://doi.org/10.2307/255331 |
||||
| De George, R. T. (2006). Corporate social responsibility and corporate moral responsibility. Business and Professional Ethics Journal, 25(3/4), 89-109. | ||||
| De Jong, M. D. T., & van der Meer, M. (2017). How does it fit? Exploring the congruence between organizations and their corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. Journal of Business Ethics, 143(1), 71-83. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-015-2782-2 |
||||
| Dobers, P., & Halme, M. (2009). Corporate social responsibility and developing countries. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 16(5), 237-249. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.212 |
||||
| Donaldson, T., & Preston, L. E. (1995). The stakeholder theory of the corporation: Concepts, evidence, and implications. Academy of Management Review, 20(1), 65-91. https://doi.org/10.2307/258887 |
||||
| Dubbink, W., Graafland, J., & van Liedekerke, L. (2008). CSR, transparency and the role of intermediate organisations. Journal of Business Ethics, 82(2), 391-406. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-008-9893-y |
||||
| Elkington, J. (1998). Cannibals with forks: The triple bottom line of 21st century business. New Society Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1002/tqem.3310080106 |
||||
| Epstein, M. J. (2008). Making sustainability work: Best practices in managing and measuring corporate social, environmental and economic impacts. Berrett-Koehler Publishers. | ||||
| Eweje, G. (2006). The role of MNEs in community development initiatives in developing countries: Corporate social responsibility at work in Nigeria and South Africa. Business & Society, 45(2), 93-129. https://doi.org/10.1177/0007650305285394 |
||||
| Freeman, R. E. (1984). Strategic management: A stakeholder approach. Pitman. | ||||
| Frynas, J. G. (2005). The false developmental promise of corporate social responsibility: Evidence from multinational oil companies. International Affairs, 81(3), 581-598. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2346.2005.00470.x |
||||
| Gjølberg, M. (2009). Measuring the immeasurable? Constructing an index of CSR practices and CSR performance in 20 countries. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 25(1), 10-22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scaman.2008.10.003 |
||||
| Gond, J. P., & Moon, J. (2011). Corporate social responsibility in retrospect and prospect: Exploring the life-cycle of an essentially contested concept. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 18(2), 81-89. | ||||
| Hart, S. L., & Milstein, M. B. (2003). Creating sustainable value. Academy of Management Executive, 17(2), 56-69. https://doi.org/10.5465/ame.2003.10025194 |
||||
| Jamali, D., & Karam, C. (2018). Corporate social responsibility in developing countries as an emerging field of study. International Journal of Management Reviews, 20(1), 32-61. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12112 |
||||
| Jamali, D., & Mirshak, R. (2007). Corporate social responsibility (CSR): Theory and practice in a developing country context. Journal of Business Ethics, 72(3), 243-262. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-006-9168-4 |
||||
| Jenkins, R. (2005). Globalization, corporate social responsibility and poverty. International Affairs, 81(3), 525-540. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2346.2005.00467.x |
||||
| Kang, K. H., Lee, S., & Huh, C. (2010). Impacts of positive and negative corporate social responsibility activities on company performance in the hospitality industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 29(1), 72-82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2009.05.006 |
||||
| Kang, N., & Moon, J. (2012). Institutional complementarity between corporate governance and corporate social responsibility: A comparative institutional analysis of three capitalisms. Socio-Economic Review, 10(1), 85-108. https://doi.org/10.1093/ser/mwr025 |
||||
| Kolk, A., & van Tulder, R. (2010). International business, corporate social responsibility and sustainable development. International Business Review, 19(2), 119-125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2009.12.003 |
||||
| Kotler, P., & Lee, N. (2005). Corporate social responsibility: Doing the most good for your company and your cause. John Wiley & Sons. | ||||
| Kumar, R., Murphy, D. F., & Balsari, V. (2015). Altered states: How corporate social responsibility in emerging economies differs from the West. Development Policy Review, 33(5), 555-573. | ||||
| Matten, D., & Moon, J. (2008). "Implicit" and "explicit" CSR: A conceptual framework for a comparative understanding of corporate social responsibility. Academy of Management Review, 33(2), 404-424. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2008.31193458 |
||||
| Mhlanga, R. (2018). Corporate social responsibility and sustainable development in emerging markets. Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, 9(1), 61-80. | ||||
| Moon, J., Crane, A., & Matten, D. (2005). Can corporations be citizens? Corporate citizenship as a metaphor for business participation in society. Business Ethics Quarterly, 15(3), 429-453. https://doi.org/10.5840/beq200515329 |
||||
| Porter, M. E., & Kramer, M. R. (2006). Strategy and society: The link between competitive advantage and corporate social responsibility. Harvard Business Review, 84(12), 78-92. | ||||
| Prieto-Carrón, M., Lund-Thomsen, P., Chan, A., Muro, A. N., & Bhushan, C. (2006). Critical perspectives on CSR and development: What we know, what we don't know, and what we need to know. International Affairs, 82(5), 977-987. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2346.2006.00581.x |
||||
| Ramasamy, B., & Yeung, M. (2009). Chinese consumers' perception of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Journal of Business Ethics, 88(1), 119-132. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-008-9825-x |
||||
| Roberts, S. (2003). Supply chain specific? Understanding the patchy success of ethical sourcing initiatives. Journal of Business Ethics, 44(2-3), 159-170. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023395631811 |
||||
| Sachs, J. D., & Warner, A. M. (1997). Sources of slow growth in African economies. Journal of African Economies, 6(3), 335-376. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.jae.a020932 |
||||
| Sen, S., & Bhattacharya, C. B. (2001). Does doing good always lead to doing better? Consumer reactions to corporate social responsibility. Journal of Marketing Research, 38(2), 225-243. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkr.38.2.225.18838 |
||||
| Smith, N. C. (2003). Corporate social responsibility: Whether or how? California Management Review, 45(4), 52-76. https://doi.org/10.2307/41166188 |
||||
| Sparrow, P. R. (2009). Globalization of HR at function level: Four UK-based case studies of the international recruitment and selection process. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 18(5), 845-867. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585190701249164 |
||||
| Steurer, R., Langer, M. E., Konrad, A., & Martinuzzi, A. (2005). Corporations, stakeholders and sustainable development I: A theoretical exploration of business-society relations. Journal of Business Ethics, 61(3), 263-281. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-005-7054-0 |
||||
| Swanson, R. A., & Chermack, T. J. (2013). Theory building in applied disciplines. Berrett-Koehler Publishers. | ||||
| Taneja, S. S., Taneja, P. K., & Gupta, R. K. (2011). Researches in corporate social responsibility: A review of shifting focus, paradigms, and methodologies. Journal of Business Ethics, 101(3), 343-364. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-010-0732-6 |
||||
| Utting, P. (2007). CSR and equality. Third World Quarterly, 28(4), 697-712. https://doi.org/10.1080/01436590701336572 |
||||
| Visser, W. (2008). Corporate social responsibility in developing countries. In A. Crane et al. (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of corporate social responsibility (pp. 473-499). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199211593.003.0021 |
||||
| Waddock, S. (2004). Parallel universes: Companies, academics, and the progress of corporate citizenship. Business and Society Review, 109(1), 5-42. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0045-3609.2004.00002.x |
||||
| Werther, W. B., & Chandler, D. (2006). Strategic corporate social responsibility: Stakeholders in a global environment. SAGE Publications. | ||||
| World Bank. (2017). Doing business 2017: Equal opportunity for all. Washington, DC: World Bank Publications. https://doi.org/10.1596/28478 |
||||
View Dimensions
View Altmetric
Save
Citation
View
Share