Comparing the Transfer of CSR Principles by Western and Chinese Extractive Industry Firms to Promote African Development: A Co-evolutionary Approach. S. M. Kort A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the University’s requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2012 University of Worcester A ... firm-centred perspective will ... enable an approach to institutional change that is more dynamic” (Jackson and Deeg, 2008: 541-542). Abstract. In regarding corporate social responsibility (CSR), this thesis has moved beyond the stakeholder theory of the firm and adopted the evolutionary theory of the firm, together with recognising the link between corporate governance and CSR. This thesis has considered the historical development of the essential principles of corporate governance (embraced within the concept of CSR) of a Multinational Corporation (MNC), namely British Petroleum (BP), and assessed the transfer of these evolved principles for promoting development in Africa. To effectively apply evolutionary theory, one must also recognise that firms are part of a co-evolutionary process. Recent academic contributions by co-evolutionary theorists have paid attention to MNCs as change agents at the sector level. However, this thesis has taken this further and considered BP attempting to engage in institutional co-evolution where a MNC acts as a change agent to the wider institutional regime to promote development. Cantwell et al (2010) suggested that MNCs can have a significant influence upon the institutional regime, and presented a framework for firm-level adaptation by MNCs influencing the wider institutional environment in the host countries where they operate. They developed a co-evolutionary framework linking historical changes in the character of MNC activities to changes in the institutional environment, focusing upon the scope for firm-level creativity and institutional entrepreneurship leading to successful institutional co-evolution. Therefore, this thesis has followed on from this and investigated whether BP can be an agent for change in Africa, using the example of Angola to highlight the process. A comparison was made with the new entrants into the market, China, to judge whether this influences BP’s ability to engage in institutional co-evolution. In addition, a comparative study of mining giant Anglo American was engaged in to highlight the appropriateness of BP’s CSR principles to the African setting. The thesis found that BP cannot successfully engage in institutional co-evolution because of an ineffective transparency initiative, whilst Chinese involvement has further diminished the ability to i transfer sound corporate governance and CSR principles, particularly because Chinese resource-seeking investment comes with ‘no conditions attached’ concerning governance in host countries. In addition, the competitive nature of securing licences to operate forces oil MNCs to use their CSR packages strategically, and furthermore, the social consequences of environmental degradation due to oil sector operations means that local communities cannot sustain their livelihoods, which is a lesson that has not been learnt from historical evolution. Keywords: institutional co-evolution, corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, strategic choice, path dependence. ii Contents. Abstract. i List of figures and tables. xii List of boxes. xiii List of abbreviations. xv Map of Angola. xix Acknowledgements. xx Chapter 1: Introduction. 1 1.1: The nature of the inquiry. 1 1.2: A new ‘scramble’ for Africa. 2 1.3: Embed, cooperate, and act. 5 1.4: Choosing Angola. 7 1.5: Structure of the thesis. 8 Part 1. Chapter 2: Theoretical framework for the study. 14 2.1: Introduction. 14 2.2: The eclectic paradigm and the evolutionary theory of the firm. 14 2.3: From evolution to co-evolution. 16 2.4: Institutional co-evolution. 20 2.5: The limitations of the shareholding and stakeholding paradigms. 26 2.6: Stakeholder theory. 28 iii 2.6.1: Criticisms and the inappropriateness of stakeholder theory. 31 2.6.2: Moving beyond stakeholder issues. 34 2.7: Discussion. 36 Chapter 3: Methodology. 38 3.1: Introduction. 38 3.2: The literature review. 38 3.3: Choosing a case study design. 39 3.4: Company reports. 40 3.5: Choosing a qualitative research strategy. 44 3.6: The four-point strategy to seek people’s views. 45 3.7: The first point: defining the population. 45 3.8: The second point: deciding who to speak to. 46 3.8.1: Sampling expert witnesses. 46 3.8.2: Expert testimony. 48 3.8.3: Sampling the academic community. 49 3.8.4: The reason for selecting expert witnesses. 49 3.8.5: Sampling key informants. 53 3.9: The third point: formulating the questions to ask. 57 3.10: An ethical outcome in interviewing: what is right and good. 59 3.10.1 Face-to-face versus online interviewing. 62 3.11: The fourth point: analysis of the responses. 63 3.11.1: Interview analysis as bricolage. 63 3.11.2: Analytical narrative. 65 iv 3.11.3: Analysing narratives. 66 3.12: Summary. 67 Part 2. Chapter 4: The resource curse and business principles. 70 4.1: Introduction. 70 4.2: What the resource curse is. 70 4.2.1: Impacts of the resource curse. 71 4.2.2: Discussing the resource curse: the role of institutions. 71 4.2.3: Civil conflict resolution. 75 4.3: The origins of CSR. 76 4.3.1: The resource curse and CSR. 78 4.3.2: Defining CSR. 78 4.4: Making the business case for CSR. 81 4.5: CSR: from Friedman to the triple bottom line for the extractive industry in the West. 85 4.6: Introducing corporate governance. 89 4.7: CSR converging with corporate governance. 90 4.7.1: CSR: the principles of corporate governance. 93 4.8: Summary. 96 Chapter 5: The history of BP’s and Anglo American’s corporate governance and corporate responsibility. 99 5.1: Introduction. 99 v 5.2: The role and structure of the board. 99 5.3: Board composition and CSR. 100 5.4: BP: a history of board composition issues. 102 5.5: The first generation of BP’s CSR. 106 5.6: The second generation of BP’s CSR. 111 5.7: The third generation of BP’s CSR. 112 5.8: The evolution of the CSR agenda for Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron. 114 5.9: BP’s endorsement of global initiatives. 116 5.10: The global initiatives compared. 117 5.10.1: The OECD Guidelines. 118 5.10.2: The UN Global Compact. 122 5.10.3: The Global Sullivan Principles. 123 5.10.4: The Global Reporting Initiative. 125 5.11: Endorsing the principles of sustainable development. 128 5.12: Anglo American. 130 5.13: Anglo American: corporate responsibility today. 135 5.14: CSR for Anglo American. 138 5.15: Anglo American: measuring impacts. 139 5.16: Discussion. 140 Chapter 6: China as the new entrants: how they will behave. 144 6.1: Introduction. 144 6.2: Chinese corporate governance: background. 146 6.3: Early business institutions in China: state governance through patronage and sponsorship. 146 vi 6.4: The China Merchants’ Steamship Navigation Company. 150 6.5: Early business institutions in China: Liu Hongsheng adapting Western business practices. 151 6.6: The Chinese Company Legislation of 1904. 153 6.6.1: The limited effect of the 1904 code. 155 6.6.2: The importance of a legal system. 156 6.7: Chinese government interference in the corporate governance of the early corporation and SOEs. 158 6.8: Modern Chinese corporate governance. 159 6.9: Government control in Chinese corporate governance. 160 6.9.2: Grasping the large: the corporatisation of Chinese state-owned enterprises. 161 6.9.2: The Code of Corporate Governance for Listed Companies in China. 163 6.9.3: Other issues in Chinese corporate governance. 163 6.9.4: The advantages of, and justifying, government control in Chinese corporate governance. 165 6.10: CNOOC and Sinopec’s sustainability reporting. 168 6.10.1: Global initiatives. 170 6.10.2: Higher national goals and symbolic relationships. 172 6.11: Discussion. 173 Part 3. Chapter 7: Angola’s developmental needs. 180 7.1: Introduction. 180 7.2: Angola: background. 181 vii 7.3: The colonial legacy. 182 7.4: Angola’s institutional capacity. 184 7.5: The civil war. 186 7.6: The destroyed transportation infrastructure. 189 7.7: Angola’s oil sector: what international oil corporations can do to promote development. 190 7.8: Discussion. 195 Chapter 8: Oil MNCs acting as change agents: analysis of the Angolan case and Africa in general. 196 8.1: Introduction. 196 8.2: The context: learning from experience. 197 8.3: BP’s implementation of CSR principles today: measuring impacts. 200 8.4: Disappointing stakeholder expectations. 201 8.5: Revenue transparency. 206 8.6: Liability of foreignness. 211 8.7: Contributing to social projects. 213 8.8: The importance of environmental issues. 216 8.8.1: Answering an audience in developed countries. 224 8.9: Strategic CSR. 226 8.10: Discussion: institutional co-evolution. 229 Chapter 9: The influence of China and comparison with Western firms. 233 9.1: Introduction. 233 9.2: The development of Sino-African relations. 235 viii 9.3 Summit diplomacy. 236 9.3.1: The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). 237 9.4: Chinese activity in Africa generally: the importance of oil. 240 9.5: Western perceptions on Chinese involvement in Africa. 241 9.6: China as a development partner. 246 9.7: Africans preferring Chinese investment. 248 9.8: Chinese investment: ‘no conditions attached’. 251 9.9: The role of the Chinese state: complimentary investment. 252 9.9.1: The nature of the complimentary investment. 253 9.9.2: Building infrastructure. 256 9.10: Chinese labour. 258 9.11: Social and environmental issues.