Title: Corporate social responsibility: governance through a conceptual blockchain framework

Authors: Sriraghav Srinivasan; Tanuj Arora; Krishna Sundar Diatha; Shashank Garg

Addresses: Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 600036, India ' Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, Vidya Vihar, Pilani, Rajasthan, 333031, India ' Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, Bilekahalli, Bengaluru, Karnataka, 560076, India ' Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, Bilekahalli, Bengaluru, Karnataka, 560076, India

Abstract: The objective of this paper is to analyse the feasibility and associated benefits of using blockchain technology for the management of corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds which have to be deployed in government-mandated areas of social sector development. The paper addresses the specific problems that exist in the current ways of managing CSR activities by comparing the current model to the proposed blockchain-based framework. The paper further goes on to show how this proposed method could bridge this gap in terms of accountability and transparency using blockchain-enabled technology, while at the same time increasing citizen involvement, i.e., pervasive participation, in the process.

Keywords: blockchains; smart contracts; CSR; corporate social responsibility; citizen participation; e-governance; transparency; accountability.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEG.2020.109836

International Journal of Electronic Governance, 2020 Vol.12 No.3, pp.276 - 289

Accepted: 07 Oct 2019
Published online: 25 Sep 2020 *

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