This research is carried out in the backdrop of increasing product quality and environmental degradation scandals associated with Chinese Pharmaceuticals in recent years. We examined the data of 125 Chinese Pharmaceuticals between 2010–2016 to investigate the impact of overall corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance as well as the performance on five unique aspects of CSR such as shareholders, employees, customers and suppliers, environmental practices, and the society to gauge the impact of these individual dimensions on the firm’s financial performance. The Hexun rating system is used to gauge a firm’s CSR performance on various stakeholder dimensions as it is one of the widely accepted CSR measurement criteria in China. The firm performance is measured by Tobin’s Q, return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE), and earnings per share (EPS) ratios. The outcome of the panel-based regression models reveals that the overall CSR score has a positive and significant influence on a firm’s financial indicators. Moreover, although all the CSR dimensions relate positively to firm performance, the environmental aspect of CSR has the most profound impact on firm performance followed by customers and suppliers, and employees. However, the shareholders and social dimensions have a relatively lesser influence on firm performance. These results imply that Chinese Pharmaceuticals shall further optimize each aspect of CSR performance as it can not only create a favorable brand image for various stakeholders but also results in sustainable financial performance.

As interest in sustainability-related issues has increased over recent years, so too has urban sustainability risen to the fore, in academic, practitioner, and policymaking circles alike. Urban sustainability requires a balance between environmental concerns, the economy, and social development in urban areas. However, over the years, there has been an exponential increase in urban density, accompanied by increased economic activity and high levels of consumption, which have hindered urban planning and made the sustainable management of urban areas more difficult. It has therefore become increasingly necessary to combine the interests of the various stakeholders involved in – or affected by – urban planning measures, in order to achieve a balance between their needs, those of the environment and future generations, and the need for economic development. Sustainability evaluation models can in this sense be considered a baseline condition for sustainable development. However, most existing evaluation systems present limitations in terms of criteria identification and the calculation of the respective trade-offs. To address these issues, the current study aims to combine cognitive mapping and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to prioritize the determinants of sustainable development in urban areas. The advantages and limitations of our proposal are also analyzed.