Public Procurement and Corporate Social Responsibility: A Comparison of Private Firms and U.S. Defense Contractors

Abstract

This paper compares the levels of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) emphasis between defense contractors and private firms that receive the majority of revenues from commercial sources. Corporate websites from three major industry groups (large defense contractors, Fortune 500 companies, and highly ranked CRS firms) were examined and rated based on information regarding their emphases on health and safety, environment, diversity, human rights, philanthropy, and corporate governance. The results indicate that defense contractors place less emphasis on those CSR categories than do private firms. The findings are explained by stakeholder differences and may be attributed to the highly regulated environment of public procurement.