IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ausman/v50y2025i2p631-653.html

Targeted poverty alleviation and corporate financial performance: The CSR strategy perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Chang He
  • Junzhi Zhang

    (China University of Mining and Technology-Beijing, China)

  • Liukai Wang
  • Weiqing Wang

    (University of Science and Technology Beijing, China)

  • Fei Li

    (Beijing Technology and Business University, China)

Abstract

As an emerging way for firms to fulfil social responsibility in China, targeted poverty alleviation (TPA) helps the Chinese government to achieve its sustainable development goals. Although the effect of TPA on poor areas has been deeply explored, the influence of firms’ participation in TPA on themselves and its mechanism is unclear. We analyse the performance of listed firms which engaged in TPA from 2016 to 2021 by adopting a causal steps approach model, which indicate that firm engagement in TPA has a significant positive effect on corporate finance performance (CFP), and the mediating effect of financing constraints and media attention is verified. Our findings contribute to corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices from the new strategy perspective of TPA. JEL Classification: G18, M14, M41

Suggested Citation

  • Chang He & Junzhi Zhang & Liukai Wang & Weiqing Wang & Fei Li, 2025. "Targeted poverty alleviation and corporate financial performance: The CSR strategy perspective," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 50(2), pages 631-653, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ausman:v:50:y:2025:i:2:p:631-653
    DOI: 10.1177/03128962231214798
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/03128962231214798
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/03128962231214798?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Z. Jun Lin & Shengqiang Liu & Fangcheng Sun, 2017. "The Impact of Financing Constraints and Agency Costs on Corporate R&D Investment: Evidence from China," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 17(1), pages 3-42, March.
    2. Min Liu & Weijie Lu, 2021. "Corporate social responsibility, firm performance, and firm risk: the role of firm reputation," Asia-Pacific Journal of Accounting & Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(5), pages 525-545, September.
    3. Brian W. Jacobs, 2014. "Shareholder Value Effects of Voluntary Emissions Reduction," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 23(11), pages 1859-1874, November.
    4. Guariglia, Alessandra & Liu, Pei, 2014. "To what extent do financing constraints affect Chinese firms' innovation activities?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 223-240.
    5. Dayuan Li & Linna Xin & Xiaohong Chen & Shenggang Ren, 2017. "Corporate social responsibility, media attention and firm value: empirical research on Chinese manufacturing firms," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 51(4), pages 1563-1577, July.
    6. Nazim Hussain & Ugo Rigoni & Elisa Cavezzali, 2018. "Does it pay to be sustainable? Looking inside the black box of the relationship between sustainability performance and financial performance," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(6), pages 1198-1211, November.
    7. Saeidi, Sayedeh Parastoo & Sofian, Saudah & Saeidi, Parvaneh & Saeidi, Sayyedeh Parisa & Saaeidi, Seyyed Alireza, 2015. "How does corporate social responsibility contribute to firm financial performance? The mediating role of competitive advantage, reputation, and customer satisfaction," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 341-350.
    8. Arthur Lewbel, 1997. "Constructing Instruments for Regressions with Measurement Error when no Additional Data are Available, with an Application to Patents and R&D," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 65(5), pages 1201-1214, September.
    9. Mai Dong Tran & Samuel Adomako, 2021. "How CEO social capital drives corporate social performance: The roles of stakeholders, and CEO tenure," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(2), pages 819-830, March.
    10. Fangjun Wang & Zhichao Zhang & Luying Xu, 2020. "Corporate social responsibility and financial statement comparability: Evidence from China," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(3), pages 1375-1394, May.
    11. Shih-wei Wu & Fengyi Lin & Chia-ming Wu, 2014. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Cost of Capital: An Empirical Study of the Taiwan Stock Market," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(S1), pages 107-120.
    12. Chung-Fah Huang & Ho-Chi Lien, 2012. "An empirical analysis of the influences of corporate social responsibility on organizational performance of Taiwan’s construction industry: using corporate image as a mediator," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(4), pages 263-275, February.
    13. Charles J. Hadlock & Joshua R. Pierce, 2010. "New Evidence on Measuring Financial Constraints: Moving Beyond the KZ Index," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(5), pages 1909-1940.
    14. Clara Xiaoling Chen & Hai Lu & Theodore Sougiannis, 2012. "The Agency Problem, Corporate Governance, and the Asymmetrical Behavior of Selling, General, and Administrative Costs," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(1), pages 252-282, March.
    15. Lu Zhao & Xuhan Wu & Zhitao Wang, 2022. "Targeted Poverty Alleviation Information Disclosure and Equity Financing Cost," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(8), pages 2181-2190, June.
    16. Chen-En Hou & Wen-Min Lu & Shiu-Wan Hung, 2019. "Does CSR matter? Influence of corporate social responsibility on corporate performance in the creative industry," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 278(1), pages 255-279, July.
    17. Yáñez-Araque, Benito & Sánchez-Infante Hernández, Juan Pablo & Gutiérrez-Broncano, Santiago & Jiménez-Estévez, Pedro, 2021. "Corporate social responsibility in micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises: Multigroup analysis of family vs. nonfamily firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 581-592.
    18. Cahan, Steven F. & Chen, Chen & Chen, Li & Nguyen, Nhut H., 2015. "Corporate social responsibility and media coverage," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 409-422.
    19. Acemoglu, Daron & Johnson, Simon & Kermani, Amir & Kwak, James & Mitton, Todd, 2016. "The value of connections in turbulent times: Evidence from the United States," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(2), pages 368-391.
    20. Jun Huang & Wei Hu & Guowei Zhu, 2018. "The Effect of Corporate Social Responsibility on Cost of Corporate Bond: Evidence from China," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(2), pages 255-268, January.
    21. Bose, Sudipta & Saha, Amitav & Khan, Habib Zaman & Islam, Shajul, 2017. "Non-financial disclosure and market-based firm performance: The initiation of financial inclusion," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 263-281.
    22. Cheng, Lei, 2018. "Estimating the value of political connections in China: Evidence from sudden deaths of politically connected independent directors," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 495-514.
    23. Sonia Baños-Caballero & Pedro J. García-Teruel & Pedro Martínez-Solano, 2016. "Financing of working capital requirement, financial flexibility and SME performance," Journal of Business Economics and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(6), pages 1189-1204, November.
    24. Byun, Seong K. & Oh, Jong-Min, 2018. "Local corporate social responsibility, media coverage, and shareholder value," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 68-86.
    25. Zhi Tang & Clyde Eiríkur Hull & Sandra Rothenberg, 2012. "How Corporate Social Responsibility Engagement Strategy Moderates the CSR–Financial Performance Relationship," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(7), pages 1274-1303, November.
    26. Sang Kim & Zhichuan (Frank) Li, 2021. "Understanding the Impact of ESG Practices in Corporate Finance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-15, March.
    27. Isabel‐María García‐Sánchez & Nazim Hussain & Jennifer Martínez‐Ferrero & Emiliano Ruiz‐Barbadillo, 2019. "Impact of disclosure and assurance quality of corporate sustainability reports on access to finance," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(4), pages 832-848, July.
    28. Shaofang Li & Chao Liu, 2018. "Quality of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure and Cost of Equity Capital: Lessons from China," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(11), pages 2472-2494, September.
    29. Shih-wei Wu & Fengyi Lin & Chia-ming Wu, 2014. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Cost of Capital: An Empirical Study of the Taiwan Stock Market," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(1S), pages 107-120, January.
    30. Karl V. Lins & Henri Servaes & Ane Tamayo, 2017. "Social Capital, Trust, and Firm Performance: The Value of Corporate Social Responsibility during the Financial Crisis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 72(4), pages 1785-1824, August.
    31. Dima Jamali & Ramez Mirshak, 2007. "Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Theory and Practice in a Developing Country Context," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 72(3), pages 243-262, May.
    32. Roll, Richard & Schwartz, Eduardo & Subrahmanyam, Avanidhar, 2009. "Options trading activity and firm valuation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(3), pages 345-360, December.
    33. Marwa Samet & Khaireddine Mouakhar & Anis Jarboui, 2018. "Exploring the relationship between CSR performance and and financial constraints: Empirical evidence for European firms," Post-Print hal-02065921, HAL.
    34. Tian, Qing & Liu, Yan & Fan, Jianhong, 2015. "The effects of external stakeholder pressure and ethical leadership on corporate social responsibility in China," Journal of Management & Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 21(4), pages 388-410, July.
    35. Yuanyuan Zhang & Zhe Ouyang, 2021. "Doing well by doing good: How corporate environmental responsibility influences corporate financial performance," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(1), pages 54-63, January.
    36. He, Feng & Qin, Shuqi & Liu, Yuanyuan & Wu, Ji (George), 2022. "CSR and idiosyncratic risk: Evidence from ESG information disclosure," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    37. Marwa Samet & Khaireddine Mouakhar & Anis Jarboui, 2018. "Exploring the relationship between CSR performance and financial constraints: empirical evidence from European firms," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 76(4), pages 480-508, October.
    38. Zhang, Dongyang, 2020. "How do firms overcome financial constraint anxiety to survive in the market? Evidence from large manufacturing data," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    39. Junnan Hu & Shujing Wang & Feixue Xie, 2018. "Environmental responsibility, market valuation, and firm characteristics: Evidence from China," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(6), pages 1376-1387, November.
    40. Weichieh Su & Mike W. Peng & Weiqiang Tan & Yan-Leung Cheung, 2016. "The Signaling Effect of Corporate Social Responsibility in Emerging Economies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 134(3), pages 479-491, March.
    41. Qiao, Tongshuai & Han, Liyan & Liu, Yang, 2021. "Does targeted poverty alleviation disclosure improve stock performance?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    42. Raymond Fisman, 2001. "Estimating the Value of Political Connections," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(4), pages 1095-1102, September.
    43. Zia ur Rehman & Asad Khan & Asim Rahman, 2020. "Corporate social responsibility's influence on firm risk and firm performance: the mediating role of firm reputation," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(6), pages 2991-3005, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zhou, Jing & Yang, Ying & Zhang, Fang & Jiu, Lili, 2025. "Shift in corporate financing strategies: The impact of targeted poverty alleviation on trade credit," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Thomas J. Chemmanur & Dimitrios Gounopoulos & Panagiotis Koutroumpis & Yu Zhang, 2022. "CSR and Firm Survival: Evidence from the Climate and Pandemic Crises," Working Papers 935, Queen Mary University of London, School of Economics and Finance.
    2. Boubaker, Sabri & Cellier, Alexis & Manita, Riadh & Saeed, Asif, 2020. "Does corporate social responsibility reduce financial distress risk?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 835-851.
    3. Wang, Xiaoqiong & Zhu, Xiaoyang, 2025. "Fading virtue, flourishing profits: Corporate social responsibility in the presence of competitor constraints," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    4. Metin Borak & Hatice Dogukanli, 2023. "Effect of Corporate Social Responsibility on Portfolio Performance: Evidence From Turkey," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, December.
    5. Hans B. Christensen & Luzi Hail & Christian Leuz, 2021. "Mandatory CSR and sustainability reporting: economic analysis and literature review," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 1176-1248, September.
    6. Dolores Gallardo-Vázquez & Luis Enrique Valdez-Juárez & Ángela María Castuera-Díaz, 2019. "Corporate Social Responsibility as an Antecedent of Innovation, Reputation, Performance, and Competitive Success: A Multiple Mediation Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-28, October.
    7. Kun Li & Chaohua He & Wassim Dbouk & Ke Zhao, 2021. "The Value of CSR in Acquisitions: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-21, March.
    8. Li, Wei-An & Du, Hanyu & He, Feng, 2025. "Mandatory corporate ESG disclosure and default risk – Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    9. Monica Singhania & Dimple Gupta, 2024. "Impact of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) disclosure on firm risk: A meta‐analytical review," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(4), pages 3573-3613, July.
    10. Yang, Yang & Jiang, Yan, 2023. "Buyer-supplier CSR alignment and firm performance: A contingency theory perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    11. Wang, Fengrong & Mbanyele, William & Muchenje, Linda, 2022. "Economic policy uncertainty and stock liquidity: The mitigating effect of information disclosure," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    12. Jia Xu & Jiuchang Wei & Liangdong Lu, 2019. "Strategic stakeholder management, environmental corporate social responsibility engagement, and financial performance of stigmatized firms derived from Chinese special environmental policy," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(6), pages 1027-1044, September.
    13. Liu, An-Chi & Kuo, Shew-Huei & Guo, Chao-Ling & Li, Yang, 2024. "Sustainable finance analysis of commercial banks in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    14. Ma Zhong & Rong Xu & Xinyi Liao & Shuangli Zhang, 2019. "Do CSR Ratings Converge in China? A Comparison Between RKS and Hexun Scores," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-20, July.
    15. Ergen Keleş, Fatma Hilal & Keleş, Emrah & Schlegelmilch, Bodo B., 2025. "CSR news and stock prices: A fine-grained analysis in an underexamined Muslim setting," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    16. Zeeshan Ullah & Ahmad Arslan & Vesa Puhakka, 2021. "Corporate social responsibility strategy, sustainable product attributes, and export performance," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(6), pages 1840-1853, November.
    17. Yasmine Souissi & Anis Jarboui, 2025. "Does Corporate Governance Shape the Relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility Performance and Financial Distress in Large European Companies?," International Journal of Finance, Insurance and Risk Management, International Journal of Finance, Insurance and Risk Management, vol. 15(1), pages 57-82.
    18. Francisco Javier Forcadell & Antonio Lorena & Elisa Aracil, 2023. "The firm under the spotlight: How stakeholder scrutiny shapes corporate social responsibility and its influence on performance," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(3), pages 1258-1272, May.
    19. Chen, Yan & Du, Kerui & Sun, Ruiqi & Wang, Tiantian, 2025. "Can strict environmental regulation reduce firm cost stickiness? Evidence from the new environmental protection law in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    20. Thi Ngan Pham & Phung Phi Tran & Minh-Hieu Le & Hoang Nhi Vo & Cong Dat Pham & Hai-Dang Nguyen, 2022. "The Effects of ESG Combined Score on Business Performance of Enterprises in the Transportation Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-17, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • G18 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • M14 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Corporate Culture; Diversity; Social Responsibility
    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:ausman:v:50:y:2025:i:2:p:631-653. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.agsm.edu.au .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.