Synergy or Antagonism? The Impact of Corporate Political and Social Strategies on Firm's Innovation Performance

Seeking a better understanding of how non-market strategies impact a firm's innovation performance, this study integrates institutional and multi-stakeholder perspectives to examine the independent and joint effects of corporate political activity (CPA) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) on a firm's innovation performance. Utilizing 3938 firm-year observations of China's A-shared listed private firms from 2014 to 2018, we find support for the predictions that both CPA and CSR strategies can positively affect firm innovation performance. Additionally, we develop competing hypotheses for the interactive effect of CPA and CSR on firm innovation from a synergistic versus antagonistic view, and the findings are consistent with the antagonistic view. This study not only extends non-market strategy and innovation literature by providing insights into the independent and joint influence of CPA and CSR on firm innovation performance but also highlights the necessity to consider the heterogeneity of non-market stakeholders when integrating different non-market strategies.