Trends and pattern of corporate social responsibility expenditure: A study of manufacturing firms in India Kavitha P Phd Scholar, Centre for Development Studies, Prasanth Nagar, Ulloor, Trivandrum, Kerala. Email ID: kavithakunhan@gmail.com, kavithapottammal87@gmail.com JEL Classification: M14, L60 Online published on 2 April, 2019. Abstract This paper analysed the trends and pattern of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) expenditure of manufacturing firms in India in both voluntary and mandatory period. For the analysis, this study used CMIE Prowess IQ database and data from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. The period of study is from 2000–2015. We defined CSR as a company's engagement in social activities outside the firm which may benefit, direct and indirect, stakeholders of the firm. The result shows that there is an increase in CSR expenditure of manufacturing firms; this increase was more visible after the enactment of the Companies Act 2013. In the voluntary period, a large number of firms are spending on CSR through donation rather than social and community expenses. But in the mandatory period, there is drastic declines in the amount of money spend on CSR through donation and a corresponding increase in social and community expenditure. In both voluntary and mandatory period, firms operating in pollution generating industries are spending more on CSR activities than firms in non-polluting industries. While analysing a subset of 100 large firms in 2013–14, we find that while firms were initially spending less than 2 per cent on CSR have increased their CSR expenditure; firms that are spending more than 2 per cent earlier, have reduced their CSR expenditure after the enactment of Companies Act. In the voluntary period, firms are largely using own charitable trust and foundations for implementing CSR activities, but in the mandatory period, a large number of firms are found to be engaging directly in CSR activities than using trust or foundations. Top Keywords Corporate Social Responsibility, Manufacturing, Mandatory, Voluntary. Top |