International financial institutions and discursive institutional change: Implications for corporate social responsibility in developing economies

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is often centred on philanthropy, which is arguably the lowest form of CSR practice and needs to be advanced. This article explores the role of discourse in institutional change and draws on the example of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), as a global institutional actor, in the promotion of sustainable project finance ideals across the globe – especially in its operations in developing economies. It focuses mainly on identifying the strategies and discourses employed by the IFC in this pursuit and possible lessons for the diffusion of CSR discourse in developing economies. Although CSR discourses in most developing economies are based on philanthropy, a key finding is that the IFC promotes CSR through a business language that aligns to profitability objectives. In addition, the IFC has continued to deploy both collaborative and complementary discursive entrepreneurial strategies to further the spread of sustainable project finance principles. It emphasizes the role of the IFC in discursive institutionalism and highlights the implications of this for CSR in developing economies.