How Does Environmental Corporate Social Responsibility Matter in a Dysfunctional Institutional Environment? Evidence from China

Zelong Wei (), Hao Shen (), Kevin Zheng Zhou () and Julie Juan Li ()
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Zelong Wei: Xi’an Jiaotong University
Hao Shen: Xi’an Jiaotong University
Kevin Zheng Zhou: University of Hong Kong
Julie Juan Li: City University of Hong Kong

Journal of Business Ethics, 2017, vol. 140, issue 2, No 2, 209-223

Abstract: Abstract Drawing on institutional and signaling theories, this study examines how environmental corporate social responsibility (ECSR) affects firm performance in a dysfunctional institutional environment. We extend the ECSR literature by suggesting that ECSR indirectly influences firm performance through the mediating effects of business and political legitimacy. Based on a dataset of 238 firms in China, we find that ECSR affects business and political legitimacy followed by firm performance. Moreover, legal incompleteness weakens and legal inefficiency strengthens the effects of ECSR on business and political legitimacy.

Keywords: Environmental corporate social responsibility; Signaling theory; Institutional theory; Legitimacy; Legal incompleteness; Legal inefficiency (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (83)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10551-015-2704-3

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