Digital economy and corporate social responsibility

<p dir="ltr">Based on the sample of A-share listed companies from 2013 to 2022, this paper empirically investigates the impact of digital economy development on corporate social responsibility (CSR). The results suggest that digital economy development facilitates firms’ CSR performance, with the effect of the digital economy on CSR performance being more pronounced for state-owned and large firms. After categorizing corporate social responsibility into three layers: monetary capital, human capital, and social capital, the digital economy still promotes the fulfillment of CSR at all layers, with the digital economy having the most significant impact on the human capital layer. The mechanism test shows that the main channels through which the digital economy improves firms’ CSR fulfillment are relieving firms’ financial limitations, facilitating firms' digital transformation, and increasing the transparency of firms’ internal control information.</p>