Do Employee Stock Ownership Plans Affect Corporate Social Responsibility? Evidence from China

Lei Zhou, Feng Wei and Yu Kong
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Lei Zhou: School of Economics and Business Administration, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400030, China
Feng Wei: School of Economics and Business Administration, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400030, China
Yu Kong: School of Public Affairs, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400030, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 3, 1-19

Abstract: Few studies have discussed the relationship between employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) and corporate social responsibility (CSR). Using a sample of 895 A-share public firms in China, this research examines the effects of ESOPs on CSR, and the moderating effects of wedge structure and firm size on this relationship. This research mainly used the OLS model to test the research hypotheses, and all regressions were performed in Stata15. The results show that the ESOPs of Chinese public firms provide external economic incentives and internal psychological incentives for employees, increase their motivation to engage in CSR activities, and ultimately contribute to CSR. At the same time, this research finds that this relationship is stronger for firms without wedge structure and small firms. This research provides insights for understanding the relationship between ESOPs and CSR and has important managerial implications for firms to pay attention to the interests of employees to achieve sustainable development.

Keywords: employee stock ownership plans; CSR; ownership structure; firm size (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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