IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i3p1746-d741131.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Foreign Shareholders’ Social Responsibility, R&D Innovation, and International Competitiveness of Chinese SOEs

Author

Listed:
  • Yuying Zhou

    (School of Business English, Sichuan International Studies University, Chongqing 400013, China)

  • Chu Lei

    (School of Business English, Sichuan International Studies University, Chongqing 400013, China)

  • Alfredo Jiménez

    (Department of Management, KEDGE Business School, 31405 Talence, France)

Abstract

Despite the increasing use of mixed ownership (domestic and foreign shareholders) in Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs), the role and performance of foreign ownership is still a controversial topic. In this paper we empirically examine the effects of foreign shareholders’ social responsibility on the international competitiveness of SOEs and the moderating effect of R&D innovation. Drawing on a sample of Chinese listed SOEs with international market operations over the period 2011–2019, we find empirical evidence supporting that foreign shareholders’ social responsibility is effective in enhancing the international competitiveness of Chinese SOEs. We also find that R&D innovation strengthens the effect between foreign shareholders’ social responsibility and enterprises’ international competitiveness. These findings are valid after controlling for robustness and endogeneity factors. Furthermore, we find that the promoting effect of foreign shareholders’ social responsibility on Chinese SOEs’ international competitiveness, as well as the moderating effect of R&D innovation, is more pronounced among Chinese local SOEs, business SOEs, and manufacturing SOEs. The research in this paper contributes to the current debate and deepens our understanding regarding the role and performance of foreign shareholders in the process of mixed-ownership reform.

Suggested Citation

  • Yuying Zhou & Chu Lei & Alfredo Jiménez, 2022. "Foreign Shareholders’ Social Responsibility, R&D Innovation, and International Competitiveness of Chinese SOEs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-17, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:3:p:1746-:d:741131
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/3/1746/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/3/1746/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Letchumanan, Raman & Kodama, Fumio, 2000. "Reconciling the conflict between the 'pollution-haven' hypothesis and an emerging trajectory of international technology transfer," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 59-79, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lei Gao & Taowu Pei & Jingran Zhang & Yu Tian, 2022. "The “Pollution Halo” Effect of FDI: Evidence from the Chinese Sichuan–Chongqing Urban Agglomeration," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-17, September.
    2. Zhou, Xiaoyan & Zhang, Jie & Li, Junpeng, 2013. "Industrial structural transformation and carbon dioxide emissions in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 43-51.
    3. Hui Fang & Chunyu Jiang & Tufail Hussain & Xiaoye Zhang & Qixin Huo, 2022. "Input Digitization of the Manufacturing Industry and Carbon Emission Intensity Based on Testing the World and Developing Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-28, October.
    4. Lammertjan Dam & Bert Scholtens & Elmer Sterken, 2007. "Corporate Governance and International Location Decisions of Multinational Enterprises," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(6), pages 1330-1347, November.
    5. Carl Gaigné & Lota D. Tamini, 2021. "Environmental Taxation and Import Demand for Environmental Goods: Theory and Evidence from the European Union," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 78(2), pages 307-352, February.
    6. Ekundayo P. Mesagan & Wakeel A. Isola & Kazeem B. Ajide, 2019. "The capital investment channel of environmental improvement: evidence from BRICS," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 1561-1582, August.
    7. Takvor H. Mutafoglu, 2012. "Foreign Direct Investment, Pollution, and Economic Growth," Journal of Developing Societies, , vol. 28(3), pages 281-297, September.
    8. Costantini, Valeria & Crespi, Francesco, 2008. "Environmental regulation and the export dynamics of energy technologies," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(2-3), pages 447-460, June.
    9. Sapkota, Pratikshya & Bastola, Umesh, 2017. "Foreign direct investment, income, and environmental pollution in developing countries: Panel data analysis of Latin America," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 206-212.
    10. Zhu, Xueqin & van Ierland, Ekko, 2006. "The enlargement of the European Union: Effects on trade and emissions of greenhouse gases," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(1), pages 1-14, April.
    11. Chang, Chun-Ping & Dong, Minyi & Liu, Jiliang, 2019. "Environmental Governance and Environmental Performance," ADBI Working Papers 936, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    12. Gaigné, Carl & Tamini, Lota D., 2018. "Environmental regulation and eco-industry trade: Theory and evidence from the European Union," Working Papers 280620, Institut National de la recherche Agronomique (INRA), Departement Sciences Sociales, Agriculture et Alimentation, Espace et Environnement (SAE2).
    13. Ilker Akar, 2019. "The Pollution Haven Hypothesis and Foreign Trade - A Survey on the Relation with Environment," Economics Literature, WERI-World Economic Research Institute, vol. 1(1), pages 37-50, June.
    14. Fozia Latif Gill & K Kuperan Viswanathan & Mohd Zaini Abdul Karim, 2018. "The Critical Review of the Pollution Haven Hypothesis (PHH)," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 8(1), pages 167-174.
    15. Colin Kirkpatrick & Kenichi Shimamoto, 2008. "The effect of environmental regulation on the locational choice of Japanese foreign direct investment," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(11), pages 1399-1409.
    16. Yusen Luo & Qinglin Wang & Xingle Long & Zheming Yan & Muhammad Salman & Chao Wu, 2023. "Green innovation and SO2 emissions: Dynamic threshold effect of human capital," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 499-515, January.
    17. Dan Huang & Shihu Zhong & Juan Tang & Jingjing Zhao, 2021. "Impact of foreign direct investment on the haze pollution in various cities: Evidence from China," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(4), pages 2016-2039, December.
    18. Zhao, Jinjing & Pan, Jie & Xie, Xiangwei & Su, Miao, 2024. "Green outward foreign direct investment and host country environmental effects: The home country's carbon emission reduction system is crucial," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 290(C).
    19. Robert Hoffmann & Chew-Ging Lee & Bala Ramasamy & Matthew Yeung, 2005. "FDI and pollution: a granger causality test using panel data," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(3), pages 311-317.
    20. Yang, Zhenbing & Shi, Qingquan & Lv, Xiangqiu & Shi, Qi, 2022. "Heterogeneous low-carbon targets and energy structure optimization: Does stricter carbon regulation really matter?," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 329-343.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:3:p:1746-:d:741131. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.