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58 Int'l J.L. & Mgmt. 2 (2016)

handle is hein.journals/ijlm58 and id is 1 raw text is: The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at: www.emeraldinsight.com/1754-243X.htm IJLMA 58,1 Received 5 September 2014 Revised 5 September 2014 Accepted 12 October 2014 International Journal of Law and Management Vol 58 No. 1, 2016 pp. 2-25 ©Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1754-243X Doi 10.1108'IJLMA-9-214-00D53 Two complimentary duties under corporate social responsibility Multinationals and the moral minimum in Nigeria's Delta region Uchechukwu Nwoke Kent Law School, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK Abstract Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Nigeria's Delta region and draw a distinction between philanthropic CSR (positive affirmative CSR) and the more demanding duty not to harm the ecosystem (negative injunction CSR). It suggests that for CSR to contribute to sustainable development, oil multinational corporations (MNCs) need to perform the more demanding duties and not only philanthropy. Design/methodology/approach - The method applied is a critical evaluation of the nature and categories of CSR. It thoroughly reviews existing literature on CSR and uses them to identify and separate for analytical purposes, the different obligations arising from the concept. Findings - The paper highlights the inability of oil MNCs in Nigeria to differentiate between philanthropic CSR and the more demanding duty to care for the host communities and their environment. It suggests that this failure, arguably attributable to the shareholder value model of corporate governance, appears to lie at the heart of the unrest in the region. Practical - By performing only the positive CSR duties, while neglecting the negative injunction obligations, oil MNCs continue to attract hostility from the host communities who feel that their survival is at stake. Originality/value - The paper extends the knowledge of the CSR practices of MNCs in Nigeria, by clearly delineating the two CSR duties and by linking the failure of MNCs to perform the negative injunctions to the shareholder value model of corporate governance. Keywords Nigeria, Niger Delta, Corporate social responsibility, Sustainable development, Shareholder value, Multinational corporations Paper type Research paper Introduction Oil has come to be the mainstay of the Nigerian economy. At present, it is by some distance the country's most important export commodity, accounting for over 80 per cent of her revenue and 95 per cent of her foreign exchange earnings (Pegg and Zabbey, 2013; Iwejingi, 2013). As a result, it plays a crucial role in the country's economy, and will continue to do so into the future. The oil industry - situated primarily in the Niger Delta region of the country - encompasses both the federal government and subsidiaries of oil multinational corporations (MNCs), such as Shell, Chevron, Total and ExxonMobil (Ebegbulem et al., 2013). The concession of mineral oil permits to the Shell d'Arcy Petroleum Development Company by the colonial government in 1937 marks the starting point of MNCs' activities in Nigeria, although exploration and surveying activities began as early as

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