IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/sustdv/v33y2025i6p8380-8397.html

Shaping the Path to Sustainable Responsibility: Political Connection and Corporate Social Responsibility Implementation

Author

Listed:
  • Lu Jintao
  • Zuxin Song
  • Francesco Mercuri
  • Malin Song
  • Nicola Cucari

Abstract

As important components of sustainable business strategies, political connection (PC) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) have attracted significant scholarly attention. However, few studies have systematically explored the influence mechanism of PC on CSR implementation from the perspective of corporate self‐serving motivation. Based on signaling theory and resource dependence theory, using data of Chinese A‐share listed companies from 2010 to 2019, with a total sample of 20 988, the impact mechanism of PC on CSR implementation were empirically analyzed by employing the two‐way fixed effects model. The findings indicate that executive PC positively affects CSR implementation; financial resources play a partial mediator role; under conditions of high economic policy uncertainty, the mediating effect of financial resources is weakened. The obtained conclusions enrich the literature on PC and business strategy and offer practical and policy implications for improving institutional design, optimizing resource allocation, and strengthening CSR implementation.

Suggested Citation

  • Lu Jintao & Zuxin Song & Francesco Mercuri & Malin Song & Nicola Cucari, 2025. "Shaping the Path to Sustainable Responsibility: Political Connection and Corporate Social Responsibility Implementation," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(6), pages 8380-8397, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:sustdv:v:33:y:2025:i:6:p:8380-8397
    DOI: 10.1002/sd.70099
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.70099
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/sd.70099?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. Sapienza, Paola, 2004. "The effects of government ownership on bank lending," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(2), pages 357-384, May.
    2. Fan, Joseph P.H. & Wong, T.J. & Zhang, Tianyu, 2007. "Politically connected CEOs, corporate governance, and Post-IPO performance of China's newly partially privatized firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 330-357, May.
    3. Liu, Qigui & Luo, Jinbo & Tian, Gary Gang, 2016. "Managerial professional connections versus political connections: Evidence from firms' access to informal financing resources," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 179-200.
    4. Mark Anthony Camilleri, 2022. "Strategic attributions of corporate social responsibility and environmental management: The business case for doing well by doing good!," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(3), pages 409-422, June.
    5. Mika Goto & Toshiyuki Sueyoshi, 2020. "Sustainable development and corporate social responsibility in Japanese manufacturing companies," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(4), pages 844-856, July.
    6. Yong Tan & Marco Chi Keung Lau & Giray Gozgor, 2021. "Competition and Profitability: Impacts on Stability in Chinese Banking," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(2), pages 197-220, May.
    7. Michael Hadani & Douglas A. Schuler, 2013. "In search of El Dorado: The elusive financial returns on corporate political investments," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(2), pages 165-181, February.
    8. Phan, Hieu V. & Nguyen, Nam H. & Nguyen, Hien T. & Hegde, Shantaram, 2019. "Policy uncertainty and firm cash holdings," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 71-82.
    9. Deng, Xin & Kang, Jun-koo & Low, Buen Sin, 2013. "Corporate social responsibility and stakeholder value maximization: Evidence from mergers," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(1), pages 87-109.
    10. Tahniyath Fatima & Said Elbanna, 2023. "Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Implementation: A Review and a Research Agenda Towards an Integrative Framework," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 183(1), pages 105-121, February.
    11. Pástor, Ľuboš & Veronesi, Pietro, 2013. "Political uncertainty and risk premia," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(3), pages 520-545.
    12. Mei, Dexiang & Zeng, Qing & Zhang, Yaojie & Hou, Wenjing, 2018. "Does US Economic Policy Uncertainty matter for European stock markets volatility?," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 512(C), pages 215-221.
    13. Scott D. Julian & Joseph C. Ofori‐Dankwa & Robert T. Justis, 2008. "Understanding strategic responses to interest group pressures," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(9), pages 963-984, September.
    14. Ahsan, Tanveer & Al-GAMRH, Bakr & Mirza, Sultan Sikandar, 2022. "Economic policy uncertainty and sustainable financial growth: Does business strategy matter?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 46(PB).
    15. Maxwell Chukwudi Udeagha & Edwin Muchapondwa, 2023. "Environmental sustainability in South Africa: Understanding the criticality of economic policy uncertainty, fiscal decentralization, and green innovation," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(3), pages 1638-1651, June.
    16. Park, Albert & Shen, Minggao, 2003. "Joint liability lending and the rise and fall of China's township and village enterprises," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(2), pages 497-531, August.
    17. Bert Scholtens, 2006. "Finance as a Driver of Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 68(1), pages 19-33, September.
    18. Jeremy Moon, 2007. "The contribution of corporate social responsibility to sustainable development," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 15(5), pages 296-306.
    19. Qingchen Feng & Yixuan Xiao & Denghan Wang, 2024. "Why Do Firms Pay Large Stock Dividends? Catering First and Cashing Out Next: Evidence from China," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 60(13), pages 3152-3175, October.
    20. John Child & Terence Tsai, 2005. "The Dynamic Between Firms’ Environmental Strategies and Institutional Constraints in Emerging Economies: Evidence from China and Taiwan," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(1), pages 95-125, January.
    21. Claessens, Stijn & Feijen, Erik & Laeven, Luc, 2008. "Political connections and preferential access to finance: The role of campaign contributions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(3), pages 554-580, June.
    22. Xiao, Fenglong & Chan, Ann Ling-Ching & Chen, Vincent Y.S., 2023. "Board political connections and tradeoff between market and nonmarket advantages: Evidence from corporate financial information disclosure," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    23. Kalim U. Shah & Surendra Arjoon & Meena Rambocas, 2016. "Aligning Corporate Social Responsibility with Green Economy Development Pathways in Developing Countries," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(4), pages 237-253, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Yin, Doudou & Si, Deng-Kui & Wang, Yun, 2024. "How does corporate investment respond to trade policy uncertainty in China? The role of political connections," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 1429-1445.
    2. Widaryanti & Wan Amalina Wan Abdullah, 2024. "Discovering thematic change and evolution of political connections research," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 1-24, December.
    3. Brahma, Sanjukta & Zhang, Jing & Boateng, Agyenim & Nwafor, Chioma, 2023. "Political connection and M&A performance: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 372-389.
    4. Fang Fang & Tingbo Duan & Kun Li, 2022. "Political Connections, Ownership and Within-Firm Pay Gap," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-20, July.
    5. He, Lerong & Wan, Hong & Zhou, Xin, 2014. "How are political connections valued in China? Evidence from market reaction to CEO succession," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 141-152.
    6. Francis, Bill B. & Hasan, Iftekhar & Sun, Xian, 2009. "Political connections and the process of going public: Evidence from China," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 696-719, June.
    7. Wang, Fangjun & Xu, Luying & Zhang, Junrui & Shu, Wei, 2018. "Political connections, internal control and firm value: Evidence from China's anti-corruption campaign," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 53-67.
    8. Zhang, Min & Liu, Yaosong & Xie, Lu & Ye, Tingting, 2017. "Does the cutoff of “red capital” raise a red flag? Political connections and stock price crash risk," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 89-109.
    9. Nys, Emmanuelle & Tarazi, Amine & Trinugroho, Irwan, 2015. "Political connections, bank deposits, and formal deposit insurance," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 83-104.
    10. Thanh Ngo & Jurica Susnjara, 2020. "Government contracts and US bond yield spreads: A study on costs and benefits of materialized political connections," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(7-8), pages 1059-1085, July.
    11. Emmanuelle Nys & Amine Tarazi & Irwan Trinugroho, 2013. "Political Connections, Bank Deposits, and Formal Deposit Insurance: Evidence from an Emerging Economy," Working Papers hal-00916513, HAL.
    12. Bai, Tao & Xu, Youzong & Pan, Xiao, 2026. "Political connection formation and firm performance: Evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 626-640.
    13. Li, Guoping & Zhou, Hong, 2015. "Political connections and access to IPO markets in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 76-93.
    14. Bijoy Chandra Das & Fakhrul Hasan & Soma Rani Sutradhar, 2024. "The impact of economic policy uncertainty and inflation risk on corporate cash holdings," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 62(3), pages 865-887, April.
    15. Xue, Xingnan & Hu, Nan, 2023. "Economic policy uncertainty and imitation behaviors of corporate social responsibility practices: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    16. Özcan Gül Berna & Gündüz Umut, 2015. "Political connectedness and business performance: evidence from Turkish industry rankings," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 17(1), pages 41-73, April.
    17. Ding, Haoyuan & Fan, Haichao & Lin, Shu, 2018. "Connect to trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 50-62.
    18. Wang, Xiaoming & Xu, Tingting, 2022. "Pay of political directors in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    19. Banerjee, Rajabrata & Gupta, Kartick & Krishnamurti, Chandrasekhar, 2022. "Does corrupt practice increase the implied cost of equity?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    20. Haijie Huang & Edward Lee & Changjiang Lyu & Zhenmei (Judy) Zhu, 2024. "Does Firm‐level Political Uncertainty Affect the Mispricing of Earnings? A Natural Experiment through Government‐to‐business Revolving Door," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 60(3), pages 446-491, September.

    More about this item

    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:wly:sustdv:v:33:y:2025:i:6:p:8380-8397. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-1719 .

    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.