Mediation path study on the effect of venture capital support on firm's corporate social responsibility
ISSN: 0368-492X
Article publication date: 29 November 2022
Issue publication date: 2 January 2024
Abstract
Purpose
This study examined the influence of corporate governance (CG) in relation to venture capital (VC) investment on invested firm's corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance in the Chinese context. More specifically, this paper examined the mediation of the proportion of independent directors (INDD), management shareholding (MSH) and executives' political connections (POLC) in the above-mentioned relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
This empirical study performed multiple mediation testing and bootstrap mediation robustness test on data from Chinese A-class shares IPO companies between 2010 and 2018.
Findings
The results of direct relationship analysis showed that VC support is detrimental to firm' CSR performance, consistent with previous research studies. The indirect effect analysis showed that VC reduced firm' CSR through reduction of INDD on board and increased MSH. Conversely, VC contributed to firm's CSR through higher POLC, which confirmed the significance of the joint mediation model.
Practical implications
This study offers stakeholders the opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of the role of VC institutions, independent directors and executives, in terms of firm's CSR, as well as provides insights on control rights allocation and policy drafting on independent directors when considering accessing VC support.
Originality/value
By analyzing the mediation model of the VC–CSR relationship, this paper provides evidence to enrich the debate on the role of CG in the relation between VC and firm's CSR.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Prof. Dr. Gandolfo Dominici (editor-in-chief), and the two anonymous reviewers, for their constructive remarks and guidance. This study was supported by Suzhou University of Science and Technology (Project No. 332211805).
Citation
Lu, Y. and Sun, Y. (2024), "Mediation path study on the effect of venture capital support on firm's corporate social responsibility", Kybernetes, Vol. 53 No. 1, pp. 467-491. https://doi.org/10.1108/K-05-2022-0768
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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