Corporate social responsibility practices in Pakistan: Insights from literature and policy

Abstract

This article seeks to review the academic literature on corporate social responsibility (CSR), published in the peer-reviewed international research journals in the context of Pakistan. It also examines various national policies and regulatory initiatives, of the government of Pakistan, aimed at promoting CSR. The article relies heavily on CSR-specific international literature to draw implications for the case of Pakistan. Besides, it explores the trends reported in Pakistan-centred CSR literature available. We found that there is a dearth of literature looking into the status of CSR in Pakistan and the regulatory regime too is not strong enough to make corporations adopt CSR in the country. Recommendations for the government and research community have been outlined; hence, the article contributes towards setting and highlighting the future research and policy agenda for CSR in the country.