社会责任承担与企业创新:“水到渠成”还是“弄巧成拙”

Social Responsibility and Corporate Innovation:“Smoothly Going”or“Self-Defeating”

近年来,企业社会责任成为国内外学者关注的热点话题,但其对于企业创新能力的提升效果在学术界尚未达成统一。着眼于高质量发展背景下的创新产出成果,基于2009—2019年A股上市公司数据,对社会责任承担与企业创新的关系及其作用路径进行了实证检验。研究发现:企业履行社会责任有助于专利质量的提升,且该结论在控制住内生性、自选择问题后依然稳健;二者主要通过内部人力资本路径实现传导,而外部融资路径并未发挥显著的中介作用。进一步对履责意愿进行考察,发现自愿履行社会责任更有助于企业专利质量的提升,且该效果在民营企业和非强制性披露社会责任信息的企业中表现得更为显著。研究结论表明,社会责任承担是实现“创新引领高质量发展”的重要路径。企业应积极转变观念,自觉履行社会责任,保障内部人力资本,以畅通社会责任提升专利质量的实现。

In recent years,corporate social responsibility(CSR)has become a hot topic with much concern among scholars domestically and internationally,but its effect on the improvement of corporate innovation capability has not yet reached a consensus in academia.Focusing on the results of innovation output in the context of high-quality development,based on the data of A-share listed companies during the years from 2009 to 2019,this paper empirically tests the relationship between CSR undertaking and corporate innovation as well as the acting path.The research finds that CSR undertaking contributes to the improvement of patent quality,and the conclusion remains robust after the control of endogenous and optional issues.The two are mainly transmitted through the internal human capital mechanism while the path of external financing does not play a significant intermediary role.Further investigation into the willingness to fulfill the CSR reveals that voluntary CSR undertaking is more conducive to improving the patent quality.Moreover,the improvement is more significant in privately owned enterprises and those enterprises with non-mandatory disclosure of CSR information.The research conclusion shows that the CSR undertaking is an important way to realize“innovation-led high-quality development”.Enterprises should transform their ideas actively,undertake social responsibility consciously and protect internal human capital so as to smoothen the realization mechanism of social responsibility to improve patent quality.