Corporate social responsibility, corruption and human rights

: multinational corporations in China and Southeast Asia

Abstract

This study examines how multinational corporations (MNC) are engaging the human rights and anti-corruption discourse in China and Southeast Asia. The purpose is to understand how industry perceives human rights and corruption within the corporate social responsibility (CSR) paradigm. This research presents a theoretical framework that argues elite business stakeholders are driving and engineering regional CSR practice. While this study largely focuses on foreign business in China and Southeast Asia, findings are derived from comparative analysis based on field work carried out in Cambodia, China and Thailand. Conclusions are drawn from 60 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders including business leaders, nongovernmental organizations, international organizations and government officials. Research is also founded on empirical data compiled and collated from six major industry conferences held in Bangkok, Hong Kong, Paris and Singapore. Results are also based on five years of observed behaviour working with several chambers of commerce, non-profit organizations and social enterprises in Hong Kong. Findings suggest that although social responsibility is an increasingly important corporate strategy, human rights and corruption remain marginalized CSR issues in China and Southeast Asia for three reasons. First, MNCs see the structural causes of human rights violations and corruption as outside their sphere of influence and responsibility. Second, divergent stakeholder interests are sidelining human rights and corruption as CSR issues. Finally, industry is constrained by structurally embedded business practice that is shaped by neoliberalism. This study concludes that human rights and corruption will remain a peripheral business issues until elite stakeholders agree on how the concepts should enter the social responsibility framework while being vigorously promoted as a global best practice.

Date of Award	15 Jul 2010
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	City University of Hong Kong
Supervisor	Stephen FROST (Supervisor)