Publication

This article undertakes a critical examination of voluntary corporate social responsibility initiatives, which have emerged as a favored response to address social harms within their business activities in developing countries. It argues that the premises on which they are grounded are flawed insofar as they ignore basic research concerning the drivers of regulatory compliance, fail to remedy underlying social harms, contravene broader goals of fostering strong regulatory institutions in developing countries, and undermine economic development by eroding state capacity in setting economic and regulatory policies. As an alternative, the article emphasizes the need to build the capacity of local regulatory authorities.