The need for regulatory intervention in corporate social responsibility in India: evidence from corporate social disclosures

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) research in India is in its nascent stage and articles seldom provide a rigorous scholarship about CSR reporting, particularly of the time leading to the initiatives undertaken by regulatory institutions towards institutionalisation of CSR. The paper aims to provide a detailed insight about the type of CSR activities undertaken and reported by Indian companies and in the context of the ambiguities and loopholes in current reporting practices, discusses the need for intervention by regulatory institutions. Employing content analysis to evaluate the annual reports of 42 non-financial companies listed on the Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange of India, over 2004-2011, the paper details the quantity, quality, platforms and the scope of CSR communication, along with a sectorial comparison of corporate social disclosures (CSD). The findings establish that quantity of reporting has increased steadily, with maximum reporting noted in employee related categories, usually under the effect of regulation. The quality of reporting appears stagnant. The high incidence of declarative statements is often ambiguous about CSR evidence and beneficiaries, and has little reference to any strategy. The detailed account of CSD presented in this research will be of interest to academicians, regulatory institutions and to organisations looking to extend their CSR programmes in India.