Research On The Correlation Mechanism Of Social Responsibility,Dual Innovation And Financial Performance Of New Ventures

In the era of the transformation of the world’s industrial structure from the industrial economy to the digital economy,entrepreneurial activities are not only the main driving force,but also become a trend of globalization today.The continuous emergence of new ventures is a manifestation of economic prosperity,and it is also the source of sustainable social and economic development.At present,in the face of major changes unseen in a century and the COVID-19 pneumonia epidemic,the downward pressure on China’s economy is prominent.Promoting high-quality development with new and old kinetic energy is the way to structural transformation.General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that "innovation is the soul of social progress,and entrepreneurship is an important way to promote economic and social development and improve people’s livelihood".New ventures are increasingly playing an important role in promoting economic and social development,not only creating a large number of jobs,but also becoming an important driving force for economic development.Meanwhile,corporate social responsibility is increasingly taking on an important mission in promoting corporate development.How to effectively engage in corporate social responsibility behavior to adapt to the internal and external environment of the organization,so as to help enterprises realize their strategic value,is worth thinking deeply.For new ventures,in order to grow into qualified "corporate citizens",based on the fierce market competition,they have begun to pay more and more attention to and actively undertake and fulfill corresponding social responsibilities.As SMEs,especially new ventures,account for the majority of the world’s business,they are vital and vital players in national economies and community building,and their corporate social responsibility and growth are critical to both local community and economic development.This makes it imperative to study CSR and its impact on the growth of new ventures in the context of new venture scenarios.At the same time,the resources and capabilities of new ventures are constrained and limited,and knowing exactly which CSR actions contribute to business growth is critical to ensuring the sustainability of new venture.How new ventures can exert their subjective initiative,improve the level of innovation,use market means,reasonably carry out social responsibility behaviors to obtain legitimacy and resources,and then overcome the defects of new entry,so as to improve the innovation effectiveness and financial performance of enterprises is a research topic with practical significance.As far as the existing relevant research is concerned,there are still relevant deficiencies.First of all,the current research on corporate social responsibility behavior and financial performance is mainly based on mature enterprises,and less attention is paid to new ventures;at the same time,innovation is considered to be an important way for social responsibility behavior to improve financial performance,but there is a paradox in the relationship between responsible behavior and innovation;in addition,the inconsistent relationship between social responsibility behavior and financial performance of new ventures may also be due to the influence of contextual heterogeneity.Therefore,this research will follow the logic main line of "new venture corporate social responsibility-technological innovationfinancial performance",and mainly carry out the following research questions:(1)What kind of relationship exists between the new venture corporate social responsibility and its financial performance relation?(2)What is the mechanism of action between CSR and financial performance of new ventures?(3)What boundary conditions affect the relationship between CSR and financial performance of new ventures?Based on relevant literature review and exploratory case analysis,this paper divides the social responsibility of new ventures into strategic social responsibility and responsive social responsibility.Based on the dual perspective of exploration and exploitation,technological innovation of new ventures is divided into exploratory Innovation and exploitation innovation,analyzes the mechanism of the social responsibility of new ventures to improve the financial performance of enterprises by affecting dual innovation,and discusses the relationship between institutional factors such as government support and social support in the relationship between social responsibility and financial performance of new start-up enterprises.Through the questionnaire survey and empirical analysis of 206 domestic new ventures,the main conclusions are as follows:First,the strategic social responsibility of new ventures has a significant positive impact on their financial performance,which can improve the financial performance of new ventures,but the responsive social responsibility of new ventures cannot.Therefore,fornew ventures,selectively engaging in social responsibility behaviors is an effective way to gain legitimacy and improve financial performance.Second,the strategic social responsibility of new ventures can not only positively influence exploratory innovation,but also have a positive impact on exploitative innovation;the responsive social responsibility of new ventures cannot promote exploratory innovation and exploitative innovation.The conclusion of the study shows that not all corporate social responsibility activities are conducive to the improvement of the innovation level of new ventures.Therefore,when new startups plan to engage in social responsibility projects,they should clarify which specific social responsibility behaviors to engage in to improve their innovation performance levels.Third,the dual innovation plays a partial mediating role in the relationship between the strategic social responsibility and financial performance of new ventures.Specifically,both exploratory innovation and exploitative innovation play a partial mediating role in the relationship between the strategic social responsibility and financial performance of new ventures.The conclusion of the study shows that binary innovation has become an important link to explain the relationship between strategic social responsibility and financial performance of new ventures.Fourth,government support can further strengthen the relationship between the strategic social responsibility and financial performance of new ventures,and also has a certain positive moderating effect on the relationship between the responsive social responsibility and financial performance of new ventures.The research conclusion shows that in the context of developing countries such as China,CSR behavior has become an important way to deepen the relationship between new ventures and the government,which helps to bring competitive advantages to enterprises.The research conclusions also reveal the fact that social support cannot strengthen the relationship between CSR and financial performance of new ventures,further confirming that the implementation of CSR behaviors in developing countries may not be supported by the public.The innovations of this paper mainly include the following three aspects:First,focus on new ventures,and examine the differential impact of different social responsibility behaviors of new ventures on financial performance through conceptualization and empirical testing,enriching the research on social responsibility in the context of new ventures.Second,integrate the dual innovation theory into the research framework of the impact mechanism of social responsibility and financial performance of new ventures.This paper enriches the understanding of the relationship between CSR and innovation by establishing links between two types of CSR behaviors(i.e.strategic and responsive CSR behaviors)and two types of innovation(i.e.,exploratory innovation and exploitative innovation).At the same time,this paper empirically tests the mediating role of dual innovation in the relationship between the heterogeneous social responsibility and financial performance of new ventures,and reveals the internal mechanism of the impact of new venture corporate social responsibility and financial performance.It opens the "black box" of the relationship between corporate social responsibility and financial performance,making the causal relationship between new corporate social responsibility and financial performance more complete and scientific.Third,from the perspective of contextual heterogeneity,based on the context of developing countries,this paper explores the moderating effect of institutional support on the relationship between CSR and financial performance of new ventures,and examines and clarifies the Contingency effects of institutional support on the relationship with corporate social responsibility and financial performance of new ventures.It enriches the research on the boundary conditions of the impact mechanism of the social responsibility behavior of new ventures,so as to provide theoretical reference and basis for new ventures to formulate and carry out corporate social responsibility practices based on their own foundations and external conditions.