Corporate Social Responsibility in Tunisia: An Institutionalist Insight

This paper analyzes causes, actors, and paths of evolution of CSR in Tunisia from an institution-based view. CSR is thus considered not as a state but as a process of creation/break up of social compromises. Our field research leads us to identify three forms of CSR (minimalist, proactive, participative) that are distinguished from each other according to the degree of implication of various actors and degree of formalization. The inherited compromise based on a minimalist and asymmetrical CSR shaped the CSR trajectory in Tunisia until 2011. The extension of actions to the community and their institutionalization is the major challenge for enterprises in the current context characterized by the diversification of CSR actors and the reconstruction of State legitimacy.