Social responsibilities of water conservancy companies, government intervention, and corporate performance: An empirical study based on panel data of selected listed water conservancy companies

As a fundamental industry related to the national economy and people's livelihood, the water conservancy industry possesses both public and market attributes. The fulfillment of corporate social responsibility (CSR) by companies in this sector not only affects their sustainable development but also has a profound impact on water resource management, ecological protection, and social stability. Under the policy guidance of fully promoting ecological civilization and high-quality development, water conservancy enterprises face dual pressures of fulfilling corporate social responsibilities and improving operational performance. Using A-share listed companies in China's water conservancy corporatesector from 2010 to 2020 as a sample, this paper adopts a two-way fixed effects model to analyze the impact of CSR on corporate performance and the moderating effect of government intervention based on an unbalanced panel. Additionally, this study examines the heterogeneous effects of CSR on corporate performance by classifying enterprises according to ownership type and business type. The results show that companies with high CSR exhibit superior performance levels; government intervention has a moderating effect and can weaken the positive impact of CSR on corporate performance. The grouped results indicate significant heterogeneous effects of CSR on corporate performance. The positive driving effect of CSR on the performance of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) is significantly stronger than that of non-SOEs; compared with companies focusing on water resource protection and management, CSR in companies focusing on water industry development and application has a more significant positive impact on corporate performance.