Profitability, state ownership, tax reporting and corporate social responsibility: evidence from Chinese listed firms

Purpose - This paper aims to examine corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the context of listed Chinese firms. In particular, it examines the relationships between CSR and profitability, state ownership and tax reporting behavior. Design/methodology/approach - The paper is an empirical study using CSR reports published by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and financial data collected from the China Stock Market Financial Statement Database (CSMAR). Findings - The paper finds that state ownership is positively associated with CSR and its three components including the governance, social and environmental scores; firm profitability is positively associated with CSR and its market score; and tax reporting behavior is negatively associated with the environmental score. But the result is weak. Research limitations/implications - The results in this study should be treated with some caution as the sample size of 85 observations represents only a small fraction of China's listed firms. A larger sample size is desirable and may affect our results. Social implications - This paper is of interest to policy-makers, corporate management and academics who wish to explore the relationship between CSR and other firm characteristics. Originality/value - This paper is the first study which provides a comprehensive examination of CSR and its four components in connection with Chinese firms. In particular, it examines the relationship between CSR and profitability and state ownership.