Stakeholder protection, public trust, and corporate social responsibility: Evidence from listed SMEs in China

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the effects of stakeholder protection and public trust on the corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities of listed enterprises on the Chinese Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Board. We find that the degree of stakeholder protection has a significantly positive impact on SME CSR activities. The public trust is not associated with SME CSR disclosure significantly; it has a significantly negative impact on the SME implementation levels of CSR activities. Furthermore, the moderating effect of public trust on the relationship between the degree of stakeholder protection and SME CSR activities is not supported by our empirical study.