Employee-related corporate social responsibilities and corporate innovation: Evidence from China

This study investigates corporate innovation from the perspective of a firm's employee-related corporate social responsibility (CSR) in China. We find that more employee-related CSR generates more innovation success. The results suggest that a firm's incentive to offer better employee related CSR is an important determinant of its innovation. The positive effect is more pronounced when employees' input into innovation is more important, and when free-riding among employees is stronger. Additional tests indicate that more employee-related CSR spurs innovation through employee stability and innovation efficiency. Our results hold up to a variety of model specifications and endogeneity issues.