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

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.