Evaluating the effectiveness of oil companies? Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Oil production often triggers socioeconomic upheaval, manifested as grievances and conflict that can disrupt a company's operations. I utilize Stakeholder Theory and the Social License to Operate to contextualize why oil companies turn to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to mitigate such conflict. They use what is often described as the "business case"-seeking to prioritize their commercial interests while addressing harms from extraction-to justify pursuing CSR, which, they maintain, facilitates production and enables them to pursue their profit-seeking interests. Does CSR benefit the commercial interests of oil companies? I hypothesize that CSR activity does increase oil production and test this expectation using a sample of oil-producing countries and a novel measure of CSR developed from the literature. I find weak evidence in support of CSR facilitating oil production. My analysis reveals that oil production drives the need for CSR, findings which challenge the key arguments put forward in support of the business case (for CSR) in this sector.