The World Bank Group's Corporate Social Responsibility Practice in FIAS advises developing country governments on public policy roles and instruments they can use to encourage corporate social responsibility.
Definition
Corporate social responsibility is the commitment of businesses to contribute to sustainable economic development by working with employees, their families, the local community and society at large to improve their lives in ways that are good for business and for development.
Corporate Social Responsibility and the Investment Climate
Many businesses in emerging markets are realizing benefits from corporate social responsibility initiatives, with quantified improvements in revenue and market access, productivity, and risk-management. While emerging-market companies tend to focus more on short-term cost savings and revenue gains, intangibles, such as brand value and reputational issues, are more significant for companies in developed countries. The contemporary corporate social responsibility agenda, however, is relatively immature in all countries. Despite widespread rhetoric, its impact is still patchy. In practice, implementation of this agenda by many companies is shallow and fragmented.
Governments are beginning to view corporate social responsibility as cost-effective means to enhance sustainable development strategies, and as a component of their national competitiveness strategies to attract foreign direct investment and position their exports in global markets. There is a significant opportunity for the public sector to harness business enthusiasm for corporate social responsibility to help achieve its goal of reducing poverty. The challenge today for the public sector in developing countries is to identify corporate social responsibility priorities and incentives that are meaningful in their national context, and to play a role in strengthening appropriate local initiatives.
What We Do
The Corporate Social Responsibility Practice is focused on building public sector understanding of incentives and pressure points, and on improving strategic interactions. The team provides country-specific diagnostics to help developing country governments work more effectively with businesses, use the incentives more strategically in development plans, and take advantage of dynamic linkages between voluntary approaches and regulations.
