Measuring Corporate Social Responsibility in India: A Composite Indicator Model

Abstract

This article proposes a composite indicator model called CSR index to measure corporate social responsibility practices of Indian companies. The proposed CSR index comprises three dimensions of CSR implementation, stakeholder management and sustainability, which are measured using 39 indicators. Data is collected from annual reports and business responsibility reports for top 100 companies ranked according to market capitalisation in March 2019. The final ranking using the CSR index highlights how Indian companies perform in their CSR practices beyond the legally mandated expenditure recommended by the Companies Act 2013. Robustness analysis shows that the ranking is robust with respect to input factors, data selection and data transformation. Regression modelling of select dimension scores of CSR index with exogenous variables of firm performance such as internal complaint resolution, turnover and profit shows positive correlation. The CSR index helps managers and policy makers to channelise a given company’s efforts at CSR into targeted programmes through resource allocation and monitoring, while comparing its relative performance within and across dimensions and industries.