Abstract
This study examines the effects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance of Chinese firms on the formation of cross-border alliances with partners in developed countries. We use signaling theory and the co-evolutionary perspective as bases in proposing that the signaling effects of CSR performance on cross-border alliance formation are subject to the influences of subnational, national, and cross-national institutions. By using a longitudinal data set, we find that the signaling effects of CSR performance on cross-border alliance formation emerged only after a national system of CSR-related institutions had been established. Once this framework was set up, the effectiveness of CSR as a signal was subject to subnational (intra-country) and cross-national (inter-countries) institutional differences. We conclude that combining signaling theory with the co-evolutionary perspective contributes to CSR research in emerging markets.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 831-850 |
Number of pages | 20 |
Journal | Journal of Business Ethics |
Volume | 186 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Sept 2023 |
Keywords
- CSR
- China
- Co-evolutionary perspective
- Cross-border alliance
- Signaling theory