What question did this study set out to answer?

This study aims to analyze how various dimensions of corporate social responsibility impact housing affordability in China, particularly looking for nonlinear effects.

February 19, 2026Open Access

Nonlinear Impacts of Multidimensional Corporate Social Responsibility on Housing Affordability: Evidence from China’s Listed Real Estate Companies via System GMM

Key Points

This study aims to analyze how various dimensions of corporate social responsibility impact housing affordability in China, particularly looking for nonlinear effects.
Used dynamic panel data from 87 Chinese listed real estate companies between 2018 and 2023.
Employed system generalized method of moments (System-GMM) for analysis.
Examined five CSR dimensions: environmental, social, economic, stakeholder, and voluntary.
Found U-shaped relationships for environmental and social CSR dimensions with both housing affordability indicators.
Economic, stakeholder, and voluntary CSR dimensions demonstrated inverted-U relationships.
Stakeholder CSR positively influenced rental affordability but not overall housing affordability.
State-owned enterprises used social and environmental CSR effectively, while private enterprises excelled with economic CSR.

Abstract

Housing affordability is a critical socioeconomic challenge in China, but how different corporate social responsibility (CSR) dimensions shape it, and whether threshold effects exist, remain underexplored. This study examines linear and nonlinear impacts of five disaggregated CSR dimensions (environmental, social, economic, stakeholder, and voluntary) on housing affordability (measured by the housing affordability index, HAI, and the rental affordability index, RIA) using dynamic panel data from 87 Chinese listed real estate firms (2018–2023) via the system generalized method of moments (System-GMM). The results revealed heterogeneous threshold effects: (1) environmental and social CSR dimensions exhibit U-shaped relationships with the HAI/RIA; (2) economic, stakeholder, and voluntary CSR dimensions follow inverted-U patterns; (3) stakeholder CSR positively affects the RIA but not the HAI. Ownership heterogeneity emerges: state-owned enterprises (SOEs) leverage social and environmental CSR more effectively, while private enterprises’ (POEs’) economic CSR delivers stronger affordability dividends. This study fills the gap in nonlinear CSR affordability research and provides empirical basis for targeted strategies.

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Cite This Study

Wang et al. (Sun,) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6996a7efecb39a600b3ee202 https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3390/su18042012

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