Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Performance in China’s Manufacturing: A Global Perspective of Business Models

Qianqian Hu, Tianlun Zhu, Chien-Liang Lin, Tiejun Chen and Tachia Chin
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Qianqian Hu: School of Management, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310023, China
Tianlun Zhu: School of Management, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310023, China
Chien-Liang Lin: College of Science and Technology, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China
Tiejun Chen: School of Management, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310023, China
Tachia Chin: School of Management, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310023, China

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 4, 1-17

Abstract: In a globalized and digital world, manufacturing firms have used internet technology to conduct value appropriation (VA). However, during the COVID-19 crisis, export-led manufacturing firms around the world, particularly those in developing countries, have been forced to lay off workers and cope with VA-related problems, and serious survival problems have resulted in critical corporate social responsibility (CSR)-related challenges. Whereas limited research has discussed relevant issues in nonwestern contexts, we adopt a global perspective of business model and transactional cost theory, aiming to fill this gap by investigating the mechanisms among different dimensions of CSR implementation, firm performance, and VA herein. Based on a sample of listed Chinese manufacturing firms, the results show that the CSR technique dimension is negatively related to firm performance, that the CSR content dimension is positively related to firm performance, and that VA positively moderates the relationships of all three CSR dimensions to firm performance. The main contribution here is providing a more comprehensive understanding of how different CSR dimensions reflect firms’ multiple ethical behaviors, which influence their sustainable performance, respectively, thus enriching the existing knowledge of CSR studies in a new digital era riddled with uncertainties and complexities. We also offer practical implications for other export-led manufacturing firms in developing countries facing turbulent times.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility; COVID-19; value appropriation; firm performance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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