To Conform or Not to Conform? The Role of Social Status and Firm Corporate Social Responsibility

Yingzhao Xiao (), Liuyang Xue (), David Ahlstrom (), Chundong Zheng () and Xiling Hao ()
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Yingzhao Xiao: Tianjin University
Liuyang Xue: Nankai University
David Ahlstrom: Hong Kong Metropolitan University
Chundong Zheng: Tianjin University
Xiling Hao: Anhui University of Finance and Economics

Journal of Business Ethics, 2024, vol. 193, issue 3, No 10, 655-677

Abstract: Abstract Whether firms in transition economies undertake corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an important research topic in business ethics. Applying the middle-status conformity perspective, this study uses listed companies in the transition economy of China from 2010 to 2020 to assess the influence of social status on CSR conformity. The empirical findings revealed an inverted U-shaped relationship between social status and CSR conformity. That is, firms with low- or high-level status were less inclined to adopt CSR practices than the firms with a more middling status. Moreover, performance expectation gaps strengthened, while managerial ability flattened, the aforementioned inverted U-shaped relationship. This study sheds new light on the complicated motives for firms in transition economies to adopt CSR practices and further substantiates the boundary conditions of the curvilinear relationship between social status and CSR conformity.

Keywords: Social status; Corporate social responsibility; Performance expectation; Managerial ability; Transition economy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1007/s10551-023-05559-x

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