The Impact of Economic Growth Target Pressure on Corporate Social Responsibility Expenditures
LV Xian-jie1, CHEN Lin2
1. Institute of Marxism, Zhongkai University of Agricultural and Engineering, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510225; 2. Institute of Industrial Economics, Enterprise Development Institute, Jinan University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510632
Abstract:In the context of the “promotion tournament”, a series of measures taken by local governments to cope with economic growth pressure and achieve short-term economic growth goals will not only promote rapid economic growth, but will also have an impact on the fulfillment of corporate social responsibilities. Based on the economic growth target data of 320 prefecture-level administrative regions across the country and the data of all listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen A-shares, this paper studies the impact and mechanism of the economic growth target pressure of prefecture-level cities on the overall scale of corporate social responsibility expenditures and the proportion of internal social responsibility expenditures. The results show that the pressure on economic growth targets in prefecture-level cities has an inhibitory effect on the overall scale of corporate social responsibility expenditures, while it has an increasing effect on the proportion of internal corporate social responsibility expenditures in overall social responsibility expenditures. The greater the pressure on the economic growth target of a prefecture-level city, that is, the deeper the economic growth target deviates from the potential growth rate, the smaller the overall scale of corporate social responsibility expenditures within the jurisdiction, the higher the proportion of internal social responsibility expenditures, and the more external social responsibility expenditures are contempt. The effect of target pressure of economic growth in prefecture-level cities on corporate social responsibility expenditures is mainly achieved by reducing corporate environmental information disclosure. Among companies with higher media attention and in regions with a higher degree of fiscal decentralization, the impact of pressure on economic growth targets is more pronounced.