Does Optimizing the Urban Business Environment Enhance Corporate Social Responsibility Performance? Evidence from Chinese Listed Firms

Ling Yu and Zhanqiang Zhou

Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, 2025, vol. 61, issue 10, 3144-3171

Abstract: Improving the business environment where a firm operates is vital for fostering economic growth and significantly influences corporate decision-making. This study examines whether and how such optimizations would affect corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance. We find robust evidence that an improved urban business environment significantly enhances CSR performance, with notable effects observed across government services, financial services, market environment, public services, innovation environment, human resources, and the legal environment. This positive impact is attributed to reduced transaction costs and increased industry competition, and is more pronounced in state-owned firms, firms situated in central and western regions, and firms with higher political affiliation. Our findings emphasize the importance of enhancing urban business environment in order to encourage firms’ socially responsible behaviors.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/1540496X.2025.2475236 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:mes:emfitr:v:61:y:2025:i:10:p:3144-3171

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/MREE20

DOI: 10.1080/1540496X.2025.2475236

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Emerging Markets Finance and Trade from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().