Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a widely embraced social phenomenon and has attracted increasing research interests in the construction industry recent years. However, their coverage of the issues pertaining to CSR in the construction industry are isolated and less comprehensive, failing to encompass the multifaceted nature of the construction industry. This study aimed to reveal and conceptualise the CSR’s state of art in the construction industry. Following a systematic selection of 68 papers published in different journals between 2000 and 2017, the inductive and deductive content analysis of these papers reveal four research themes of current CSR research in the construction industry, comprising CSR perception, CSR dimensions, CSR implementation and CSR performance. A conceptual framework was developed accordingly to reflect the CSR research sate of art in the construction industry. Furthermore, given the nexus between CSR and sustainable development, insights for enhancing CSR contribution to sustainable development, and sustainable development goals (SDGs) in the construction industry were proposed, including changing the traditional procurement practices, improving legislation for environmental responsibility, integrating CSR dimensions and increasing CSR implementation in small to medium enterprises (SME). The findings of this study will deepen the understanding of CSR in the construction industry, and provide practical implications for different stakeholders in the construction industry to contribute more effectively to sustainable development.

Introduction

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a widely embraced social phenomenon, particularly in the financial, resources, and trade and retail sectors, where the business activities generate substantial stakeholder interests. In the construction industry, CSR is becoming a growing agenda in recent years, mainly for two paradoxical reasons. On one hand, the construction industry is intrinsically ‘irresponsible’ (Lu et al., 2015) whereby different construction activities such as the extraction, processing and transportation of raw materials, design, construction, and demolition of built products use excessive resources and energy (Zhao et al., 2012). This adversely affects the physical environment and ecosystem in the forms of greenhouse gas emissions, dust, waste, carbon emission, and general air pollution (Barthorpe, 2010; Ozorhon, 2013; Zou and Couani, 2012). Additionally, construction activities are generally labour intensive with a high exposure to accidents, thereby making construction a less healthy and safe undertaking for construction workers (Close and Loosemore, 2014; Jiang and Wong, 2016). Furthermore, as a result of the extreme competition and the affinity for profit making in the construction industry, many construction organisations have to operate under unsafe and unhealthy conditions, and in certain spheres, they engage in the globally condemned child labour practices (Jiang and Wong, 2016; Lu et al., 2015; Roberts et al., 2009; Xiong et al., 2016). On the other hand, the construction industry is socially responsible as it materialises the built environment through the creation of a wide variety of necessary buildings, industrial plants and other infrastructures (Jiang and Wong, 2016), which are instrumental to enhancing the health, economic, social and cultural aspects of humanity (Xiong et al., 2016). Through the creation of necessary infrastructure, the construction industry helps to shape the social lifestyle of people (Jiang and Wong, 2016).