Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices of Foreign and Local Companies in Ghana

Abstract

This article reports a comparative study of the key motives underlying corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices of foreign and local firms operating in Ghana and the societal as well as business outcomes of these practices. The results show that while the CSR decisions of foreign firms are mainly guided by legal prescriptions, those of their local counterparts are guided mostly by discretionary and social considerations. The socially oriented CSR practices of the local firms are consistent with cultural expectations in Ghana that those with extra resources should support the less privileged members of the society. But the difference in the degree of importance that the two groups of firms attach to discretionary motives for their CSR practices is not statistically significant. The article also discusses the policy, strategy, and research implications of the findings