A Contemporary Issue of Micro-Foundation of CSR, Employee Pro-Environmental Behavior, and Environmental Performance toward Energy Saving, Carbon Emission Reduction, and Recycling

Hua Yu, Muhammad Salman Shabbir, Naveed Ahmad, Antonio Ariza-Montes, Alejandro Vega-Muñoz, Heesup Han, Miklas Scholz and Muhammad Safdar Sial
Additional contact information
Hua Yu: School of Economics and Management, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
Muhammad Salman Shabbir: Department of Management, College of Commerce and Business Administration, Dhofar University, Salalah 211, Oman
Naveed Ahmad: Faculty of Management Studies, University of Central Punjab, Lahore 54000, Pakistan
Antonio Ariza-Montes: Social Matters Research Group, Universidad Loyola Andalucía, C/Escritor Castilla Aguayo, 414004 Córdoba, Spain
Alejandro Vega-Muñoz: Public Policy Observatory, Universidad Autónoma de Chile, Santiago 7500912, Chile
Heesup Han: College of Hospitality and Tourism Management Sejong University, 98 Gunja-Dong, Gwanjin-Gu, Seoul 143-747, Korea
Miklas Scholz: Division of Water Resources Engineering, Department of Building and Environmental Technology, Faculty of Engineering, Lund University, P.O. Box 118, 221 00 Lund, Sweden
Muhammad Safdar Sial: Department of Management Sciences, COMSATS University, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 10, 1-15

Abstract: The contemporary literature has largely addressed corporate social responsibility (CSR) at the macro or institutional level, whereas its effect at the micro-level is largely ignored. In addition, contemporary researchers have also ignored the importance of employee pro-environmental behavior to reduce the environmental footprint of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). With this background, the present study attempts to decrease the environmental footprint of the SME sector of China by implementing CSR at the micro-level through the involvement of employees because employees spend a significant amount of their time at workplaces, and hence their environment-related behavior may significantly contribute to improve the natural environment. In this regard, here we examined the impact of the micro-foundation of CSR on SMEs’ environmental performance with mediating effect of employees’ pro-environmental behavior. The data were collected from the different organizations in China. Our sample constitutes a supervisor–subordinate dyad from which we collected 562 filled questionnaires (281 from each). We used the structural equation modeling technique using AMOS software for data analysis, the results show that CSR, directly and indirectly, through employee’s pro-environmental behavior affects the environmental performance of SMEs, and employee pro-environmental behavior partially mediates this relationship. The findings of the present study are helpful for policymakers of the SME sector of China to address widespread environmental issues caused by their business operations.

Keywords: environmental performance; pro-environmental behavior; environmental footprints; China; corporate social responsibility; SME (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (15)

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