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Journal of Business Ethics

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29-05-2015

How Does Environmental Corporate Social Responsibility Matter in a Dysfunctional Institutional Environment? Evidence from China

Authors: Zelong Wei, Hao Shen, Kevin Zheng Zhou, Julie Juan Li

Published in: Journal of Business Ethics | Issue 2/2017

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Abstract

Drawing on institutional and signaling theories, this study examines how environmental corporate social responsibility (ECSR) affects firm performance in a dysfunctional institutional environment. We extend the ECSR literature by suggesting that ECSR indirectly influences firm performance through the mediating effects of business and political legitimacy. Based on a dataset of 238 firms in China, we find that ECSR affects business and political legitimacy followed by firm performance. Moreover, legal incompleteness weakens and legal inefficiency strengthens the effects of ECSR on business and political legitimacy.

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Title: How Does Environmental Corporate Social Responsibility Matter in a Dysfunctional Institutional Environment? Evidence from China
Authors: Zelong Wei
Hao Shen
Kevin Zheng Zhou
Julie Juan Li
Publication date: 29-05-2015
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Published in: Journal of Business Ethics / Issue 2/2017
Print ISSN: 0167-4544
Electronic ISSN: 1573-0697
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-015-2704-3

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