The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Firms’ Innovation in China: The Role of Institutional Support

Abstract

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) literature in developed countries indicates that there are two types of CSR (i.e., proactive CSR and reactive CSR), and only the proactive one can boost innovation. However, recent studies from emerging economies such as China show that both types of CSR can enhance innovation. Such inconsistent results may be created by, on the one hand, the heterogeneity of innovation types, and on the other hand, the heterogeneity of mechanisms though which CSR impacts innovation in different countries. Accordingly, this paper theoretically explores the impacts of two types of CSR (i.e., proactive CSR and reactive CSR) on two of innovation types (exploratory innovation and exploitative innovation). This paper further reveals the mechanisms through which CSR impacts innovation in China by investigating the moderating role of institutional support (i.e., government support and social support) on the relationship between CSR and innovation. Using a panel dataset (2008–2016) of 286 Chinese public listed firms from research and development (R&D)-intensive industries (e.g., information technology, pharmaceutical and biological products; and chemicals, etc.), our findings show that: (1) proactive CSR promotes exploratory innovation; (2) reactive CSR promotes exploitative innovation; (3) government support strengthen the relationship between proactive CSR and exploratory innovation as well as the relationship between reactive CSR and exploitative innovation; (4) social support weaken the relationship between proactive CSR and exploratory innovation. This paper enriches our understanding on the relationship between CSR and innovation, and provides implications for practitioners and policymakers.

Corporate Social Responsibility Activities and Green Innovation Performance in Organizations: Do Managerial Environmental Concerns and Green Absorptive Capacity Matter?

“…In contrast, others have proved an indirect relationship between CSR dimension and enterprise performance and innovation capability. However, how managers’ perceived behaviors influence CSR activities’ toward the green innovation performance (GIP) of enterprises has not received adequate empirical consideration, especially in emerging economies ( Ji et al, 2019 ; Ji and Miao, 2020 ). The reasons for choosing green innovation performance as a research variable in the present scholarship can be addressed in three ways.…”

The Influence of Institutional Support on the Innovation Performance of New Ventures: The Mediating Mechanism of Entrepreneurial Orientation

“…In order to explore the mechanism of institutional support on the innovation performance of new ventures, this study is based on the definition of new ventures used by current scholars, and new ventures established within 8 years are the research objects [16]. We referred to the data in the China Statistical Yearbook (2020), and selected Beijing, Hebei, Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangdong, Zhejiang, etc., cities which are more active in innovation, as the research area, and conducted research on new startups in the region.…”

“…Institutional theory holds that the success of enterprise innovation depends not only on the internal resources of the organization, but also on the external institutional environment [15]. Studies have pointed out that institutional support is a key element of resource allocation and other economic activities in the enterprise social relationship network [16]. Limited by their initial resources, new ventures need to constantly seek external innovation resources to meet their own development needs, but the liability of newness will increase the difficulty of obtaining innovation resources [17].…”

The influence of institutional support on innovation performance of new ventures: the mediating mechanism of entrepreneurial orientation

“…Institutional theory holds that the success of enterprise innovation depends not only on the internal resources of the organization, but also on the external institutional environment [15]. Studies have pointed out that institutional support is a key element of resource allocation and other economic activities in the enterprise social relationship network [16]. Limited by the initial resources, new ventures need to constantly seek external innovation resources to meet their own development needs, but the liability of newness will increase the difficulty of obtaining innovation resources [17].…”