Targeted poverty alleviation and corporate financial performance: The CSR strategy perspective

Abstract

As an emerging way for firms to fulfil social responsibility in China, targeted poverty alleviation (TPA) helps the Chinese government to achieve its sustainable development goals. Although the effect of TPA on poor areas has been deeply explored, the influence of firms’ participation in TPA on themselves and its mechanism is unclear. We analyse the performance of listed firms which engaged in TPA from 2016 to 2021 by adopting a causal steps approach model, which indicate that firm engagement in TPA has a significant positive effect on corporate finance performance (CFP), and the mediating effect of financing constraints and media attention is verified. Our findings contribute to corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices from the new strategy perspective of TPA. JEL Classification: G18, M14, M41