Conformity or differentiation? A U-shaped relationship between peers’ CSR and focal firms’ CSR

Long, Xianyi; Zhang, Ting

doi:10.1108/cms-04-2020-0157

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 90 publications

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“…Our results show that the stock market reacts negatively (positively) to CSR award announcements in the short term (long term). Our findings are consistent with the research showing a nonlinear relationship between CSR and firm financial performance (Barnett and Salomon, 2006; Wang et al , 2008; Long and Zhang, 2021). Developing countries tend to have inefficient institutional environments, immature market mechanisms and heavier stakeholder skepticism.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Do CSR awards enhance firms’ market value? Evidence from China

Zhang

Long

Tan

et al. 2022

CMS

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Purpose This study aims to examine the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) awards on firms’ market value considering these awards as a signal and proxy for the effectiveness of CSR practice. Design/methodology/approach There are 342 announcements of CSR awards in China from 2006 to 2017 screened and analyzed using the event study methodology. Findings The stock market reacts significantly negatively to CSR award announcements in the short term. Firms that are state-owned, belong to the manufacturing industry, outside east China, repeatedly win awards and are listed in the Chinese H-share market, experience a stronger stock market reaction. Interestingly, the long-term stock returns of award winners are significantly positive for multiyear holding periods. Practical implications The findings offer stakeholders clear guidelines on how to manage communications in the market to extract enhanced financial performance from CSR award announcements. Originality/value This study chooses CSR awards as a proxy for the effectiveness of excellent CSR practice. This study also contributes to the CSR literature by analyzing how investors use the award information to make investment decisions.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Do CSR awards enhance firms’ market value? Evidence from China

Zhang

Long

Tan

et al. 2022

CMS

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“…The firm–government relationship has also been a focus of research on CSR practices in emerging markets (Bao et al , 2016; Ghoul, 2017; Lin et al , 2015; Long and Zhang, 2021; Marquis and Qian, 2014; Zueva and Fairbrass, 2021). Previous studies demonstrate that national level institutional contexts have a significant impact on firm-level CSR (Campbell, 2007; Ioannou and Serafeim, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Foreign competition and corporate social responsibility: the role of the firm–government relationships

Meng

Sima

2022

CMS

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Purpose This study aims to investigate how and why corporate social responsibility (CSR) among domestic firms in emerging countries is affected by foreign competition. Design/methodology/approach The paper combines the resource-based view with the institution-based view to explain how different levels of firm–government relationships prompt firms to enact CSR when facing foreign competition. First, this paper examines how domestic firms engage in CSR in the presence of foreign competition, followed by the consideration of how different firm–government relationships affect CSR strategies for firms faced with foreign competition. Using a database of 1,665 publicly listed Chinese firms between 2011 and 2017, this paper tests four hypotheses regarding CSR behaviors, foreign competition and firm–government relationships, and the findings of this paper generally support all four hypotheses. Findings This study contributes to the literature by demonstrating that domestic firms in China respond to foreign competition by increased engagement in CSR, and this positive relationship is heterogeneous among different firm–government relationships. CSR is attenuated by state ownership but enhanced by high industry competition and high regional marketization. Practical implications The findings of this research have implications for managers regarding the integration of internal and external resources to enhance CSR as a nonmarket strategy to help maintain firms’ competitive advantages. For the government, policymakers should establish and maintain a fair and market-oriented environment that encourages firms to increase CSR engagement. Originality/value The paper contributes to the literature exploring the mechanisms that motivate firms’ pursuit of CSR as a nonmarket strategy under the impact of intensified foreign competition.

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“…First, by focusing on peer listed stars, we extend the recent discussion on the peer effects of CSR. Prior studies on the impact of peer firms' social responsibility practices have verified that peer firms' CSR behavior has a positive effect on focal firms' CSR in general (Gao and Hafsi, 2015;Liu and Wu, 2016;Marquis and Tilcsik, 2016;Yang et al, 2018;Tang et al, 2019;Long and Zhang, 2021;Li and Wang, 2022). Most of these quantitative studies have been conducted based on the average level of peer firms.…”

Section: Theoretical Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is shown that CSR is largely determined by a focal firm’s operating environment (Ioannou and Serafeim, 2012; Liang and Renneboog, 2017). Thus, pioneering scholars have indicated the impact of industry or community peers on focal firms’ CSR (Gao and Hafsi, 2015; Liu and Wu, 2016; Marquis and Tilcsik, 2016; Yang et al , 2018; Cao et al , 2019; Tang et al , 2019; Long and Zhang, 2021; Li and Wang, 2022). Most scholars have investigated how firms react to their peers’ CSR adoption.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How do peer listed stars affect corporate social responsibility? Evidence from China

Yang

Zhao

Yang

et al. 2022

CMS

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Purpose This study aims to complement existing studies by investigating the impact of different corporate social responsibility (CSR) information disclosed by peer listed stars (i.e. governance information [GI] and output information [OI]) on focal firms’ responsive CSR (RCSR) and strategic CSR (SCSR) practices. The authors also investigate the influence of different boundary conditions (i.e. founders’ social status [SS] and industry pollution intensity). Design/methodology/approach Based on the listed stars of 16 industries and their 4,096 private peers in China, the authors use the least squares method and logistic regression models to analyze the data set. Findings The results indicate that the GI of peer listed stars can only positively affect firms’ RCSR behavior. The OI of peer listed stars has a positive effect on firms’ SCSR behavior while negatively affecting firms’ RCSR behavior. The SS of focal firms’ founders and their interaction with the industry’s pollution level strengthen the abovementioned positive relationships while weakening the negative ones. Practical implications This study provides insights into the role of listed stars in influencing peer firms’ CSR activities, offering important practical implications for both policymakers and managers. Originality/value This study extends the recent discussion on peer effects of CSR by elucidating the peer star effect on CSR and confirms that firms may adopt heterogeneous CSR practices to achieve sustainable growth by investigating peer firms’ different responses to their listed stars’ different CSR information. Moreover, by introducing the SS of founders and the pollution intensity of the industry as boundary conditions, this study enriches the research context on CSR activities.

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Conformity or differentiation? A U-shaped relationship between peers’ CSR and focal firms’ CSR

Cited by 7 publications

References 90 publications

Do CSR awards enhance firms’ market value? Evidence from China

Do CSR awards enhance firms’ market value? Evidence from China

Foreign competition and corporate social responsibility: the role of the firm–government relationships

How do peer listed stars affect corporate social responsibility? Evidence from China

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