Corporate social accountability in developing countries: A recipe for the socially responsible corporation

From the Pfizer's clinical trial of the polio drug that killed 11 children in Nigeria and rendered several others blind, deaf and mentally retarded, to the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India that killed over 5000 people and caused lifelong health damage to up to 100,000 others, the list of multinational companies' activities that have inflicted costly damage on populations in the developing world in the unconscionable exercise of the corporate power is indeed endless. The growing awareness of the social and environmental impacts of companies' activities has led to the growing emphasis on corporate social responsibility. Many developing countries that however happen to be most affected by corporate social responsibility issues do not seem to have any remarkable corporate social responsibility framework. This article examines the different theories and dimensions to corporate social responsibility and argues that developing countries can make companies to take their corporate social responsibility seriously by imposing disclosure requirements that cover their non-financial performance thereby making them socially accountable for their activities.