Monday, 3/30/2026
The School of Economics, Management and Political Science at the University of Minho (EEG) is proud to announce that Osman Issah, a student on the PhD in Management – Specialising in Business Sciences, has presented his doctoral thesis entitled “Essays on Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Tax Avoidance in Ghana”.
In the author’s own words:
"This thesis explores the multi-dimensional relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate tax behaviour within Ghana’s institutional environment.
Essay 1 conducts a scientometric analysis of CSR and tax avoidance research. The findings show that, despite research on the CSR-tax nexus having grown, gaps persist. Existing studies focus on developed countries (the US and Western Europe), while research on developing countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, remains limited. Most studies use aggregate CSR measures and emphasise the legitimacy and stakeholder theories, overlooking institutional theory and organised hypocrisy.
Essay 2 adopts a quantitative approach to examine how the economic, environmental, and social dimensions of CSR relate to tax avoidance, and how institutional factors—particularly firms’ location within Ghana’s Free Zones (GFZ)—moderate these relationships, and other firm-level features link with tax avoidance. The main findings show that the economic dimension of CSR is unrelated to tax avoidance, while higher-quality environmental disclosures are associated with higher tax avoidance, especially among local firms. However, the GFZ environment significantly weakens this relationship. Conversely, higher-quality social disclosures correspond with lower tax avoidance, mainly among multinational firms. Firms located in GFZ often channel resources to mandated social initiatives instead of paying taxes.
Essay 3 applies the concepts of organised hypocrisy, organisational façades, and temporalities of hypocrisy to examine how CSR disclosures serve as legitimacy tools for managing reputational damage arising from controversial corporate behaviour. Using an interpretive approach and a case study of a major Ghanaian mining firm, the analysis reveals that CSR reporting is largely symbolic—employing rational, reputation, and progressive façades, and the four temporal modes of hypocrisy to bridge gaps between talk and action.
The results highlight how the company strategically uses CSR narratives to rebuild legitimacy amid ongoing controversies, which also reflects broader contextual factors in Ghana. This thesis makes contributions to the literature on CSR and tax avoidance. The findings have significant implications for policymakers, regulatory bodies, and oversight institutions in Ghana and other developing regions."
The doctoral thesis was supervised by Tânia Montenegro, a lecturer in the Department of Management at the School of Economics, Management and Political Science, University of Minho.
The EEG congratulates Osman Issah on his defence and wishes him every success in his professional and personal life!
Gabinete de Comunicação
Escola de Economia, Gestão e Ciência Política
Universidade do Minho
Telefone: 253 604 541
Email: gci@eeg.uminho.pt
