Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Performance: the Moderating Role of Top Management Team Characteristics and Heterogeneity

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is exploring whether the characteristics and heterogeneity of the TMT play a moderating role in CSR and corporate value or not. Design/methodology/approach - The literature research method includes collecting, organizing, and analyzing the literature on the characteristics and heterogeneity of the TMT, the effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR), and corporate value. We analyze the contributions and limitations in existing research, grasp the current research status, and develop the research content of this article. The empirical analysis method is based on the data of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2001 to 2017. This allows us to study the moderating effect of the characteristics and heterogeneity of the TMT on CSR and corporate value. Findings - The TMT age, education degree, overseas background, and compensation have a positive moderating effect on CSR and corporate market value. The comprehensive heterogeneity of the TMT also has a positive effect on CSR and financial performance. Research implications or Originality - The research on the relationship between CSR and corporate value is still inconclusive. Some results have found a positive relationship, while others show a negative relationship. Studies exist that report mixed findings as well. This study has attempted to clarify this problem by adding potentially missing variables related on the TMT characteristics and heterogeneity, investigating causality effects.