We further conducted panel data analysis to explore the association between CSR and Firm’s performance.
Though the study doesn’t highlight overt commercial funding, the institutional context (large listed firms in China) and the use of government subsidies as a moderator hint at potential institutional/incentive bias. The authors report that government subsidies (“Sub”) positively moderate CSR-firm-performance link — this suggests firms receiving subsidies may have different motivations, which might bias the results toward favourable CSR-outcomes.