This study proposes a production framework in which capital, labor, and corporate social responsibility (CSR) generate sales. Estimating a stochastic frontier on an international sample of large manufacturing firms reveals that CSR has asymmetric effects on efficiency. In a matched sample, the processes of high as compared to low CSR firms are affected less by a crisis shock. This can be largely attributed to the role of CSR as an insurance signal of processes sustainability, especially in market-based as compared to network-oriented contexts. Finally, results show that higher CSR helps firms to mitigate a crisis shock on real effects such as profitability and sales growth; this is mostly because these firms have a higher ability to adjust their operating margins and exhibit lower risk.

这项研究提出了一个生产框架，在该框架中，资本，劳动力和企业社会责任（CSR）产生了销售额。对大型制造企业的国际样本进行的随机前沿估计表明，企业社会责任对效率具有非对称影响。在一个匹配的样本中，与企业社会责任低的公司相比，企业社会责任的过程受到危机冲击的影响较小。这在很大程度上可归因于CSR作为过程可持续性的保险信号的作用，尤其是在与基于网络的环境相比，基于市场的情况下。最后，结果表明，较高的企业社会责任可以帮助企业减轻危机对诸如利润率和销售增长等实际影响的冲击。这主要是因为这些公司具有较高的调整营业利润率和降低风险的能力。