Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether institutional quality influences the corporate social responsibility (CSR) and firm performance (FP) relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses a large sample of 814 European firms from roughly 2008 to 2017. In order to resolve the problem of endogeneity and heterogeneity the system generalized method of moment is performed.

Findings

First, the effect of CSR on FP is simultaneously positive and significant for the economic, social and overall score based on an equal-weighted performance of four CSR pillars. Second, we found that the institutional quality matters, as corruption significantly decreases the FP, while government stability law and order exert a positive impact. Third, results suggest, similarly, that FP benefits from the interactional relationship between CSR and institutional quality. Finally, as for firm specifics, we found that the lagged performance and growth rate of sales significantly increase the European FP. However, FP is negatively sensitive to the leverage ratio.

Research limitations/implications

This study aims to fill the gap in the CSR-FP interrelation and institutional context. Since we have a large number of firms (814) compared to a relatively small temporal dimension (10 years), the dynamic panel data analysis, and more precisely, the SGMM approach, is the most appropriate to resolve the problem of endogeneity and heterogeneity.

Practical implications

The institutional environment affects the firm's CSR response and results. The strong institutional quality may result in increased regulatory pressures placed on the firm related to social responsibility compliance and can thereby enhance the CSR–FP relationship.

Originality/value

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that explored the relationship between CSR–FP and institutional quality in the European context. Indeed, this paper shows that institutional quality mediates the relationship between CSR practices and FP.

中文翻译：

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企业社会责任与企业绩效：制度质量重要吗？

目的

本文的目的是研究制度质量是否影响企业社会责任（CSR）和企业绩效（FP）关系。

设计/方法/方法

本文使用了大约 2008 年至 2017 年的 814 家欧洲公司的大样本，为了解决内生性和异质性问题，采用了系统广义矩法。

发现

首先，基于四个企业社会责任支柱的同等加权表现，企业社会责任对 FP 的影响同时对经济、社会和总体得分是积极的和显着的。其次，我们发现制度质量很重要，因为腐败显着降低了 FP，而政府稳定法律和秩序产生了积极影响。第三，结果表明，类似地，FP 受益于企业社会责任和制度质量之间的互动关系。最后，对于公司的具体情况，我们发现滞后的业绩和销售增长率显着提高了欧洲 FP。然而，FP 对杠杆率负敏感。

研究限制/影响

本研究旨在填补 CSR-FP 相互关系和制度背景方面的空白。由于与相对较小的时间维度（10 年）相比，我们拥有大量的公司（814），因此动态面板数据分析，更准确地说是 SGMM 方法，最适合解决内生性和异质性问题。

实际影响

制度环境会影响公司的 CSR 响应和结果。强大的制度质量可能会增加公司在遵守社会责任方面的监管压力，从而加强 CSR-FP 关系。

原创性/价值

据我们所知，这是第一项探讨欧洲背景下 CSR-FP 与制度质量之间关系的研究。事实上，本文表明制度质量在 CSR 实践和 FP 之间起到中介作用。