Corporate digital responsibility dividend: Ethical practices and product market performance
Abstract
This study examines how corporate digital responsibility (CDR) affects product market performance using data from Chinese A-share listed firms (2011–2024). We construct a novel CDR indicator from news coverage and a regulatory index based on administrative penalties. Grounded in the resource-based view, our findings show that CDR enhances product market performance via improved product quality and investor trust. The effect is stronger among AI-intensive, consumer-facing, and competitive firms, especially in low-trust regions. Government regulation strengthens this relationship. Our study offers valuable insights for firms in emerging markets to develop effective CDR strategies and gain competitive advantage.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Ethics in Business and Education
Law
AI
and Intellectual Property
Security
Politics
and Digital Transformation
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Emerging Markets Review
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Volume
- 73
- Pages
- 101483–101483
- Publication date
- 8 April 2026
- Language
- EN