Firm growth, business risk, and corporate social responsibility in Taiwan’s food industry

This study applies the multiple-regime panel smooth transition regression (MR-PSTR) estimation to investigate the non-linear dynamic relationship between a firm’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) and firm growth in the food industry under the size threshold, using a panel of 30 Taiwanese food firms during 2007–2017. Our empirical results reveal that firm growth and firm size present a non-linear relationship, and that firm growth is different under the size threshold value and the control variables of firm age, CSR, R&D innovation, and finance policy. Corporate social responsibility helps reduce business risk. Regardless of the type and size, for many food industries, CSR is no longer an arbitrary choice, but an essential requirement.