Essays on the Origins and Consequences of Mandatory Corporate Social Responsibility in India
Open Access DepositedFor nearly ten years, India has required thousands of companies to spend two percent of their profits on social initiatives. Contrary to perspectives that view such corporate social responsibility (CSR) spending as hollowing out the state, this dissertation demonstrates that India's CSR framework has transformed what is normally considered private philanthropy into an extension of state developmental and political programs. The spending mandate (Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013) has its origins in India's state-owned enterprises, was imposed by the state top-down through legislation, and is implemented by companies in ways that are highly responsive to the preferences of national, state, and local governments. The first essay develops the overall argument, placing the Section 135 mandate in its local and global contexts. It shows that the mandate emerged as part of a package of government efforts to address widening economic inequality and to share the benefits of India's economic growth more widely. This top-down approach has resulted in a CSR landscape that is highly responsive to government priorities. The second and third essays examine the consequences of Section 135 and associated corporate spending, relating them to state priorities and state-society relations. The second essay draws upon a survey of 1,200 households in northern India to assess whether Section 135 is changing public views toward economic policy, one of the objectives of the spending mandate. The survey finds that beneficiaries of CSR projects are more favorable toward companies but that this difference in attitudes does not extend to support for economic reform. The third essay considers the consequences of the large increase in corporate donations to non-profits brought about by Section 135. It demonstrates that companies are distinct from traditional non-profit donors, specifically foreign aid donors, in their unwillingness to fund rights-based work and their strong preference for direct service delivery. In India, however, this distinction is less important than it appears due to increased state scrutiny of foreign funding for rights-based work; CSR may be accelerating the move toward a more quiescent civil society, one in line with the Indian government's preference for "apolitical" approaches to development, but the prime mover remains the state.
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