Aligning Corporate Social Responsibility with National Innovation Systems: How Multinational Enterprises Can Strengthen Sustainable Development Goal Outcomes in Nigeria and India

Multinational enterprises (MNEs) are increasingly central to development trajectories in emerging economies through foreign direct investment (FDI) and corporate social responsibility (CSR). Despite rising CSR expenditures in countries such as Nigeria and India, progress towards several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) remains uneven, raising concerns regarding the effectiveness of prevailing CSR approaches. This study examines how MNE-led CSR initiatives can be more effectively aligned with national innovation systems (NIS) to enhance sustainable development outcomes. Adopting a qualitative, theory-driven content analysis of academic literature, policy documents, and secondary CSR datasets, the study finds that CSR activities are often implemented as fragmented philanthropic interventions, with weak institutional linkages to local innovation systems, skills formation, and technology diffusion mechanisms. This constrains their potential long-term contribution to SDG achievement. By conceptualizing CSR as an institutional component of national innovation systems rather than a standalone corporate obligation, the paper advances a CSR–SDG–NIS integration perspective. The study contributes to international business and development scholarship by clarifying how MNEs can move beyond symbolic or project-based CSR towards innovation-driven, measurable, and systemically embedded contributions to the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.