Petros, Fekadu (Asst. Professor)Abitew, Tasew2021-11-032023-11-082021-11-032023-11-082021http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/28486Though the notion corporate social responsibility existed for long, it is undeveloped with respect to its precise meaning. The vagueness of the concept created confusion in determining to whom businesses should be responsible, who should take CSR initiatives, and who should regulate CSR. Scholars developed various theories to clear-up these uncertainties. Of which, some say firms are responsible only to shareholders and CSR is a voluntary action, so that, it should be regulated by the firms themselves. Whereas, others say businesses should be responsible both to the shareholders and other stakeholders, CSR should not be anchored only with voluntarism, and state also should have a role in regulating CSR. As the latter view is getting more prominence, state regulation of CSR is becoming important, especially in middle and low income countries like Ethiopia, which is one of the least developed countries where a significant number of its population lives below the poverty line. On the other hand, Ethiopia is a place where both local and foreign private investments are flourishing compared with many African countries. The prevailing absolute poverty in one hand and the expansion of business firms on the other hand demand, among others, the proper execution and regulation of CSR. Recognizing this, the study tried to examine the existing status of CSR and its regulation in Ethiopia and identified potential approaches to regulate the same. Qualitative data are gathered both from primary and secondary sources. Primary data are collected from manufacturing companies, government offices, employees, and community members using interviews and purposive sampling technique. Secondary data are collected from various literatures, domestic policy documents and laws, and foreign statutes. Findings from primary and secondary sources are analyzed using inductive and deductive reasoning approaches respectively. The findings revealed the following five key points. One: Ethiopia has no a self-contained CSR policy and law which defines and regulates the entire aspects of CSR. Two: though there is no such policy and law, there are scattered laws which give legal basis, especially for economic, social, and environmental responsibilities. Three: although some firms better understood the notion CSR, still some others regard CSR as synonymous with philanthropy, a voluntary action, and cost to companies. Four: the execution of CSR is still at its infancy stage as well as CSR is essentially unregulated or at least under regulated. Five: it is identified that state regulation should not be limited to regulating only legal responsibilities, but also other aspects of CSR. Finally, it is concluded that having a self-contained CSR policy and law is critical precondition to effectively and efficiently regulate CSR, both self-regulation and state regulation can co-exist covering one another's weaknesses, and direct state regulation should be applied only in cases of strict necessity.enCSR, Policy, Regulation, Self-regulation, State Regulation, Manufacturing Companies, EthiopiaThesis