To explore the mechanism of multiple conjunctural causation underlying differences in financial performance, this study selects 39 Chinese companies from the Fortune Global 500 as samples and applies configurational thinking and the qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) approach to integrate five variable conditions concerning corporate social responsibility (CSR). The results show that 3 path configurations achieve high financial performance. Specifically, the first configuration includes highly responsible governance, superior employee rights and interests, and effective environmental protection. The second configuration includes highly responsible governance, superior employee rights, and active public charity. The third configuration includes highly responsible governance, active public charity, and effective environmental protection. The four dimensions involved in the above three path configurations have alternative effects in interpreting financial performance. When the level of responsible governance ability is high, as long as any two conditions among employee rights and interests, environmental protection and public charity also attain a high level, this situation can drive the corporation to achieve high financial performance. Based on the conclusions of this paper, management implications from the perspectives of firms are also proposed.
Along with the deep comprehension and accumulated practice of corporate social responsibility (CSR), people are increasingly aware of the positive role of the government in the development of CSR. Chinese governments at all levels have issued many policies to guide and regulate CSR behavior in Chinese enterprises. However, there has been little research on the evaluation of CSR policy’s effectiveness. In this paper, we conducted a text analysis of 76 corporate social responsibility policies (CSRPs) and statistics of high-frequency words. Based on the existing policy evaluation index system, combined with the characteristics of CSRPs, we constructed a CSRPs content evaluation index system based on the policy modeling consistency index (PMC-index) model. Additionally, we conducted content analysis and quantitative evaluation of six CSRPs selected from different levels and regions of government agencies. The results show that the evaluation levels of the six policies were all good, which could play a positive role in the CSR development of their policy objectives. However, policies in different regions show obvious differences in the design of implementation suggestions and incentive and constraint measures, and there is a large space for further optimization. This study not only provides specific policy optimization suggestions for the government and enterprises based on case studies but also provides methods for evaluating the content of CSRPs, filling the research gap in this field.
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