Leiden University Student Repository

Dzimballa, Laura (2019)

Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development in Latin America

Bachelor thesis | International Studies (BA)

This thesis outlines the dynamics of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and its importance for sustainable development in the region of Latin America. Two state-owned oil and gas companies, Petrobras in Brazil and Pemex in Mexico, are analyzed throughout the paper. These case studies establish that CSR is embedded in the contemporary socio-cultural structures of a country. Political practices of corruption in both cases hinder the positive impact the companies’ CSR agendas could potentially have on sustainable development. A final section concludes that the lack of enabling environments and strong governments hinders a potential positive link between CSR initiatives and sustainable development in Mexico and Brazil. Therefore, pressing issues of poverty, inequality and environmental degradation cannot be tackled by implementing CSR in its current form.

CSR

Sustainable Development

Latin America

SOEs

Pemex

Petrobras

South-centered CSR

Author

Dzimballa, Laura

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

Latin America

Supervisors

Amann, Edmund

ECTS Credits

15

Language

en