Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting Practices of Nigerian Multinationals: Isomorphism, Legitimacy, and Stakeholder Accountability

This dissertation critically examines the corporate social responsibility reporting practices of Nigerian multinationals, developing an original theoretical synthesis of institutional isomorphism, organisational legitimacy theory, and stakeholder accountability frameworks to explain the form, content, and strategic use of CSR disclosure in the Nigerian multinational context. As Nigerian firms have expanded internationally, they have encountered heightened CSR reporting expectations from international investors, global supply chain participants, and host country civil society organisations, prompting significant investment in CSR communication infrastructure. Yet whether this reporting reflects substantive accountability or primarily serves legitimacy management functions remains a critical and empirically under-investigated question. The study employs a critical discourse analysis methodology applied to CSR and sustainability reports published by 15 Nigerian multinationals across five international operating sectors from 2015 to 2024, supplemented by 40 semi-structured interviews with CSR directors, institutional investors, civil society organisations, and host community representatives. The theoretical framework integrates DiMaggio and Powell's institutional isomorphism framework, Suchman's legitimacy theory, and the stakeholder theory of the firm. The dissertation develops an original Nigerian Multinational CSR Reporting Model that identifies three dominant reporting archetypes, namely isomorphic compliance, strategic legitimation, and genuine accountability, and maps the organisational and institutional conditions associated with each archetype. Original contributions include the reporting archetype model, an empirically validated CSR disclosure quality index for African multinational contexts, and a theoretical elaboration of legitimacy gradient dynamics in the context of South-South international business expansion. Keywords: CSR reporting, legitimacy, Nigerian multinationals, institutional theory, stakeholder accountability