The transition in governmental approach towards corporate social responsibility (CSR) from voluntary to mandatory has received much attention in the recent literature, mainly because the delegation of its role in social development has rarely been provided. In this context, the questions we raise are: Does mandatory CSR leads to higher expenditure? How does it affect business leaders' intrinsic motivation to spend on CSR? The case of India's section‐135 of Companies Act, 2013 shows that mandatory CSR has made companies more responsible by raising the level of CSR expenditure and positively affecting business leaders' intrinsic motivation to incur CSR expenditure. However, this gain has come at a cost as CSR expenditure has become more sensitive to profit, which is undesirable from society's perspective. The study uses instrumental theory and motivation‐crowding theory to explain the CSR behavior of NIFTY 100 companies from financial year 2009–2010 to 2018–2019. Overall, results of the present study suggest that government should prefer the approach of mandatory CSR with some precautions to instrumentalize the rising success of corporate sector for addressing the environmental and social issues in country.

Corporations have come to the realization that numerous benefits can be derived by being socially responsible in the societies they operate. Presently, the argument is not just about being a good corporate citizen but the ability of a business to communicate its social contributions to the stakeholders. Therefore, the present study examines the extent of corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSRD) practices by NIFTY 100 companies in the voluntary period of CSRD and the period after the implementation of Section-135 of the Companies Act, 2013. The annual reports of companies are content analyzed using a CSRD measurement index to calculate disclosure score under six themes of corporate social responsibility, namely community development, human resource, environmental activities, development of rural areas, product and customer relation, and fair business. The percentage of companies making CSRD has been increasing over the period of study. In both periods, environmental activities is the most disclosed CSRD theme followed by human resource.Moreover, the results have shown a significant difference in the CSRD practices of sectors. Overall, companies operating in more sensitive sectors and high visibility sectors engage more in CSRD practices. Lastly, the results also indicate that companies have focused on different CSR themes depending on their sector type.

No abstract

Purpose Higher education is uncertain which sustainability-related education targets should be sought and monitored. Accepting that something needs to be measurable to be systematically improved, the authors explored how measures relate to potential targets. This paper aims to focus on dispositions to think critically (active open-minded thinking and fair-minded thinking in appraising reasoning) as measures and explored how they related to sustainability concern as an indicative educational target. Design/methodology/approach This research included the development and testing of research instruments (scales) that explored dispositions to critical thinking and sustainability concern. Authors researched these instruments within their own correspondence groups and tested them with university students and staff in Pakistan, the USA, Austria, India and New Zealand. The authors also asked a range of contextualising questions. Findings Respondents’ disposition to aspects of active, open-minded thinking and fair-minded thinking do predict their concern about facets of sustainability but their strength of religious belief was an important factor in these relationships and in their measurement. Practical implications This research demonstrates the complexity of monitoring dispositions to think critically and sustainability concern in educational systems, particularly in circumstances where the roles of religious beliefs are of interest; and suggests ways to address this complexity. Originality/value This research integrates and expands discourses on ESD and on critical thinking in diverse disciplines and cultures. It investigates measurement approaches and targets that could help higher education institutions to educate for sustainable development and to monitor their progress, in ways that are compatible with their culture and values.

No abstract