The Influence of Corporate Social Responsibility on Business Performance: Evidence from Agricultural Enterprises in China

The aim of this research is to examine the structural linkages between social responsibility, social capital, competitive advantages, and agricultural enterprise performance in China. This research focused on the role of social capital and competitive advantages in mediating the relationship between CSR and corporate performance. 492 employees from agricultural firms in Xinjiang, China, took part in the study. Confirmatory factor analysis and exploratory factor analysis were used to assess the measurement scales’ reliability and validity. The associations between these four variables were investigated using structural equation modeling, and the mediating impact was tested using the Bootstrap method. Corporate social responsibility, social capital, and competitive advantage are all positively related to business performance, according to the findings. According to the results of the mediating effect test social capital and competitive advantage partially mediated the relationship between corporate social responsibility and business success. Unlike earlier research, this study focused on the impact of social responsibility on agricultural enterprise performance in impoverished rural areas. The findings of this study, in particular, benefit agricultural company management by revealing the role of social capital and competitive advantage in mediating the relationship between corporate social responsibility and business performance.