IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/diedps/320561.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Corporate social responsibility imperatives in the Moroccan textile-clothing sector: Ways of implementation and impact on local value chains

Author

Listed:
  • Benabdeljlil, Nadia
  • Kerzazi, Lamia

Abstract

This research examines the impact of codes of conduct imposed by international lead firms on subcontractors in Morocco's textile and apparel sector. Based on a qualitative study conducted in the two main industrial hubs (Tangier and Casablanca), it explores the diffusion of corporate social responsibility (CSR) standards along the supply chain, their role in enhancing subcontractor capabilities, and their influence on inter-level relationships within the chain. The study highlights cross-cutting factors that place subcontractors in conditions that are not conducive to the effective implementation of CSR standards. It also shows that procedural audits associated with the enforcement of codes of conduct promote the spread of coercive isomorphism and foster a culture focused on strict compliance with formal rules. Furthermore, the research identifies two distinct profiles of subcontractors based on how they respond to institutional pressures to adopt these codes: those with minimal compliance, often engaging in rule-bypassing practices, and those adopting a proactive approach to internalising the standards. The study also uncovers factors explaining these divergent attitudes. Among the firms with a proactive stance, initiatives aimed at strengthening the capacities of their subcontractors are emerging. However, relationships with downstream actors in the supply chain remain characterised by a climate of mistrust, which limits the overall impact of these efforts.

Suggested Citation

  • Benabdeljlil, Nadia & Kerzazi, Lamia, 2025. "Corporate social responsibility imperatives in the Moroccan textile-clothing sector: Ways of implementation and impact on local value chains," IDOS Discussion Papers 18/2025, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:diedps:320561
    DOI: 10.23661/idp18.2025
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/320561/1/1929076479.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.23661/idp18.2025?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Valentina Marano & Peter Tashman & Tatiana Kostova, 2017. "Escaping the iron cage: Liabilities of origin and CSR reporting of emerging market multinational enterprises," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 48(3), pages 386-408, April.
    2. Jennifer Bair & Florence Palpacuer, 2015. "CSR beyond the corporation: contested governance in global value chains," Post-Print hal-02009049, HAL.
    3. repec:dau:papers:123456789/1360 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Peter Tashman & Valentina Marano & Tatiana Kostova, 2019. "Walking the walk or talking the talk? Corporate social responsibility decoupling in emerging market multinationals," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 50(2), pages 153-171, March.
    5. Sahasranamam, Sreevas & Arya, Bindu & Mukundhan, K.V., 2022. "Dual institutional embeddedness and home country CSR Engagement: Evidence from Indian MNEs," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 163-174.
    6. World Bank, 2023. "Global Economic Prospects, January 2023," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 38030, April.
    7. Nelly Oelze, 2017. "Sustainable Supply Chain Management Implementation–Enablers and Barriers in the Textile Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-15, August.
    8. Françoise Quairel & Marie-Noëlle Auberger, 2007. "La diffusion de la RSE par la relation fournisseurs : injonctions paradoxales ou partenariat de progrès ?," Post-Print halshs-00150842, HAL.
    9. World Bank, 2023. "Global Economic Prospects, June 2023," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 39846, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gama, Marina A.B. & Casnici, Cyntia Vilasboas Calixto & Bassi-Suter, Mariana & Gonzalez-Perez, Maria Alejandra & Fleury, Maria Tereza L., 2025. "The impact of corporate social responsibility in home countries on the financial resilience of emerging-market multinationals: An analysis on Brazilian MNEs," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    2. Bu, Maoliang & Xu, Liang & Tang, Ryan W., 2023. "MNEs’ transfer of socially irresponsible practices: A replication with new extensions," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 58(2).
    3. Federica Nieri & Luciano Ciravegna & Ruth V. Aguilera & Elisa Giuliani, 2019. "Larger, more internationalized, better behaved? A configurational study of em erging market multinational enterprises' involvement in corporate wrongdoing," Discussion Papers 2019/255, Dipartimento di Economia e Management (DEM), University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
    4. Na Yang & Jue Wang & Xiaming Liu & Lingyun Huang, 2022. "Home-country institutions and corporate social responsibility of emerging economy multinational enterprises: The belt and road initiative as an example," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 39(3), pages 927-965, September.
    5. Pei Sun & Jonathan P. Doh & Tazeeb Rajwani & Donald Siegel, 2021. "Navigating cross-border institutional complexity: A review and assessment of multinational nonmarket strategy research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 52(9), pages 1818-1853, December.
    6. Garanina, Tatiana & Kim, Oksana, 2023. "The relationship between CSR disclosure and accounting conservatism: The role of state ownership," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    7. Goldberg,Pinelopi Koujianou & Reed,Tristan, 2023. "Is the Global Economy Deglobalizing ? And If So, Why? And What Is Next?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10392, The World Bank.
    8. Jingtao Yi & Jiatao Li & Liang Chen, 2023. "Ecosystem social responsibility in international digital commerce," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 54(1), pages 24-41, February.
    9. Popli, Manish & Raithatha, Mehul & Ahsan, Faisal Mohammad, 2021. "Signaling behavioral intent through better governance: A study of emerging market multinational enterprises," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 697-710.
    10. Yin, Tong & De Propris, Lisa & Jabbour, Liza, 2021. "Assessing the effects of policies on China’s outward foreign direct investment," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(5).
    11. Il Park, Byung & Xiao, Shufeng (Simon), 2021. "Doing good by combating bad in the digital world: Institutional pressures, anti-corruption practices, and competitive implications of MNE foreign subsidiaries," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 194-205.
    12. repec:ocp:ppaper:pb23-23 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Maksym Chepeliev & Maryla Maliszewska & Maria Filipa Seara e Pereira, 2025. "Disentangling the Channels of Impact of the Ukraine War on Global Food Markets: An Integrated Scenario Approach," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 17(4), pages 781-809, August.
    14. Hajar Amiza binti Hamim & Siti Ayu Jalil, 2024. "Examining The Impact of Macroeconomics Factors on Carbon Emissions in Selected 7-ASEAN Members: A Panel Data Analysis," Information Management and Business Review, AMH International, vol. 16(3), pages 203-212.
    15. Garanina, Tatiana & Aray, Yulia, 2021. "Enhancing CSR disclosure through foreign ownership, foreign board members, and cross-listing: Does it work in Russian context?," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(C).
    16. Francisco Arroyo Marioli & Garima Vasishtha, 2025. "Fiscal Policy Procyclicality and Volatility in Commodity-Exporting Emerging and Developing Economies : Determinants and Implications for Growth," Policy Research Working Paper Series 11037, The World Bank.
    17. Gu, Lulu & Yang, Guohua & Zuo, Rui, 2022. "Dual liability and the moderating effect of corporate social responsibility–Evidence from Belt&Road investment of Chinese firms," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    18. Manuel Pedro Rodríguez Bolívar & Isabel Cristina Pereira-Piedra & Laura Alcaide Muñoz, 2025. "Looking for Improving the Urban Areas: the Case of Costa Rican Cantons in Their Path to Become Smart," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 16(2), pages 8441-8495, June.
    19. Popli, Manish & Raithatha, Mehul & Goyal, Lakshmi, 2022. "Avoiding the risk of de-legitimation: Impact of internationalization on earnings management of emerging market firms," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    20. Vikrant Shirodkar & Namita Shete, 2021. "The Impact of Domestic CSR on the Internationalisation of Emerging-Market Multinational Enterprises: Evidence from India," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 61(6), pages 799-829, December.
    21. Naz Sayari & Bill Marcum & Ram Baliga, 2024. "To overstate or not to overstate Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): What does Bayes tell us about CSR decoupling and firm value?," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 45(1), pages 264-282, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:zbw:diedps:320561. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ditubde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.