The role of public policies in promoting corporate social responsibility

Abstract

This paper analyses public policy practices and roles in promoting corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Decision making related to public policies is increasingly complex, and therefore analytical hierarchal process (AHP) was used in this study to rank public policy practices of CSR in UAE. The study delivers insights to governments, which shape CSR agendas. A public policy framework consisting of 29 practices that fall under five public policy categories - mandating, facilitating, partnering, endorsing, and empowering roles - are introduced in this paper. UAE policy makers are assigning more importance to mandating and empowering policies when promoting CSR. Findings from this study will help the UAE Government enhance its role as mediator between all stakeholders. It will also help the government identify initiatives to adopt and procedures to improve to encourage corporations to be more socially responsible regarding stakeholders. Future research should investigate perceptions of other parties, such as civil society and companies, to discover gaps in public policy design, implementation, and monitoring.