Corporate Social Responsibility and High-quality Development: Do Green Innovation, Environmental Investment and Corporate Governance Matter?

Under the network public opinion ecology in the Omni-media Era, corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance can provide important internal and external environmental support for improving corporate development quality. Based on the data of Chinese listed companies from 2010 to 2019, this paper evaluates the impact and mechanism of CSR on corporate high-quality development. The results show that CSR significantly promotes the improvement of corporates’ development quality. The results remain robust in altering variables, controlling more urban and corporate-level variables, and solving endogeneity. Mechanism analysis indicates that CSR can promote the high-quality development of corporates by improving green innovation, environmental investment, and corporate governance. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the incentive effect of CSR on corporate high-quality development is more obvious in non-state-owned corporates and when the market is in a “bull market.” This paper provides feasible ideas for adjusting the operating behavior of Chinese listed companies and government policy orientation.