社会责任规制对企业社会责任行为的影响——基于中国披露规制的经验研究

Influence of Social Responsibility Regulation on Corporate Social Responsibility Behavior:An Empirical Study Based on China’s Disclosure Regulation

社会责任规制能否纾解社会责任与经济效益的困局,取决于被规制对象的行为动机。本文以中国2008年实施披露规制为政策契机,选取2006—2019年A股上市公司为样本,使用准自然实验法考查了披露规制对企业社会责任行为的影响。研究发现,披露规制诱发了上市公司的合法性动机,具体表现为象征性披露行为和缩减社会责任活动开支,没有证据显示上市公司出于战略性动机积极从事社会责任活动;非战略性的象征性披露还导致了上市公司声誉和盈利能力显著下降;异质性分析发现,披露规制仅对合法性压力较敏感的东部地区和高竞争行业的上市公司产生影响,中西部地区和低竞争行业对披露规制政策反应不显著。本文拓展和丰富了企业社会责任行为影响因素及社会责任规制经济后果的相关文献,为探索“有效市场和有为政府更好结合”的社会责任规制政策提供有益启示。

Whether social responsibility regulation can alleviate the contradiction between social responsibilities and economic benefits depends on the behavioral motivation of the regulated object.Taking China’s implementation of social responsibility disclosure regulation in 2008 as an opportunity,this paper selected A-share listed companies from 2006 to 2019 as samples,and used a quasi-natural experiment method to examine the influence of disclosure regulation on corporate social responsibility(CSR)behavior.The study found that disclosure regulations induce the legitimacy motives of listed companies,which are manifested in symbolic disclosure behavior and reduction of CSR expenditure on activities.There is no evidence that listed companies engage in CSR activities out of strategic motives;non-strategic symbolic disclosure also leads to a significant decline in the reputation and profitability of listed companies.Through the heterogeneity analysis,it was found that disclosure regulations only affect listed companies in the eastern region and high-competitive industries that are more sensitive to legitimacy pressure in China,while the central and western regions and low-competitive industries have no significant response to the disclosure regulation policy.This paper enriches the relevant literature on the influencing factors of CSR behavior and the economic consequences of social responsibility regulation,which provides useful inspiration for exploring the social responsibility policy of“better combination of efficient market and faithful government”.