Corporate social responsibility and cost stickiness: Evidence from China

∗This paper aims to investigate whether assuming corporate social responsibility (CSR) can induce firms’ asymmetric cost behaviour. Based on the data from Chinese listed firms over the 2009-2019 period, we empirically find that firms with a higher CSR behaviour present a larger degree of cost stickiness. Our findings extend the research of cost stickiness by analyzing it based on CSR and social goals, and provide a new theoretical perspective and empirically support for the subsequent study of cost stickiness.