TY - JOUR
T1 - A dual-agency model of firm csr in response to institutional pressure
T2 - Evidence from Chinese publicly listed firms
AU - Li, Shuping
AU - Lu, Jane Wenzhen
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to thank our action editors, Sucheta Nadkarni and Brian Connelly, and three anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments during the review process. We also would like to thank Xueyong Zhan and Jaegoo Lim for their helpful suggestions on the earlier versions of this paper. We are grateful for the capable research assistance provided by Jiao Li and Xiangting Wu and for support from research grants by China Europe International Business School and the City University of Hong Kong.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Academy of Management. All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/12/1
Y1 - 2020/12/1
N2 - Findings from prior studies regarding the relationship between government corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives and firm CSR performance have been mixed. To address this research gap, we developed a dual-agency model incorporating both public agents (government officials) and private agents (corporate CEOs) to investigate when firms respond to government initiatives by increasing their CSR. We tested our model in a sample of 746 Chinese listed firms during the period 2009-2014 when a national CSR initiative, the Twelfth Five-Year Plan, took place. Our results show that firms responded positively to the plan by increasing their CSR performance, but their response varied according to the incentives of both public and private CSR agents. Firms were more likely to increase CSR when public agents were more motivated to seek promotion to the central government or when private agents had greater concerns for legitimacy. Our examination of the role of two different types of CSR agents within institutions contributes to the institutional view of CSR by highlighting the interplay of institutions and human agents in promoting firm CSR. It also advances public policy and managerial practices regarding the development and selection of CSR agents inside and outside firms in a given institutional environment.
AB - Findings from prior studies regarding the relationship between government corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives and firm CSR performance have been mixed. To address this research gap, we developed a dual-agency model incorporating both public agents (government officials) and private agents (corporate CEOs) to investigate when firms respond to government initiatives by increasing their CSR. We tested our model in a sample of 746 Chinese listed firms during the period 2009-2014 when a national CSR initiative, the Twelfth Five-Year Plan, took place. Our results show that firms responded positively to the plan by increasing their CSR performance, but their response varied according to the incentives of both public and private CSR agents. Firms were more likely to increase CSR when public agents were more motivated to seek promotion to the central government or when private agents had greater concerns for legitimacy. Our examination of the role of two different types of CSR agents within institutions contributes to the institutional view of CSR by highlighting the interplay of institutions and human agents in promoting firm CSR. It also advances public policy and managerial practices regarding the development and selection of CSR agents inside and outside firms in a given institutional environment.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85091954921&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.5465/AMJ.2018.0557
DO - 10.5465/AMJ.2018.0557
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85091954921
SN - 0001-4273
VL - 63
SP - 2004
EP - 2032
JO - Academy of Management Journal
JF - Academy of Management Journal
IS - 6
ER -
