High-speed rails (HSRs) are a sustainable approach in many cities. Although some studies recognize that introducing HSR is negatively related to carbon emissions, explorations of the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain scarce. The main purpose of this study is to investigate whether introducing HSR reduces carbon emissions through increasing green innovation (GI) and the resilience of environmental investment (REI). Employing signal theory and fault tolerance theory, among others, we propose models that illuminate how inaugurating HSRs reduces carbon emissions through GI and REI. Our proposed central hypothesis is that GI and REI mediate carbon emission reduction by introducing HSR. In this study, we select Chinese cities from 20002021 as a sample and examine our hypotheses via a difference-in-differences (DID) model. The results show that introducing HSR reduces carbon emissions through GI and REI. On the basis of the current status of China’s economic and social development, we further analyze several critical moderating effects, such as the digital economy, the urban‒rural gap, and whether it is a resource-based city. In 2023, China’s Central Economic Work Conference (CEWC) explicitly proposed “developing the digital economy.” We find that the digital economy strengthens the negative relationship between introducing HSRs and carbon emissions. The digital economy also strengthens the positive correlation between the introduction of HSR and GI. Additionally, this strengthens the positive correlation between HSRs and REI. In addition, the urban‒rural disparity is a manifestation of China’s uneven development. We find that the urban‒rural disparity weakens the relationship between HSRs and carbon emissions. In addition, China’s resource-based cities lag behind other cities. Our findings suggest that, in contrast to other cities, high-speed rails increase carbon emissions in resource-based cities.

The link between the digital economy and prosperity is well established. However, the mechanism underlying the relationship between the digital economy and common prosperity is yet to be investigated. The main purpose of this study is to address this mechanism by examining the extent to which the digital economy has optimized regional investments in protecting the environment, particularly the resilience of environmental investment, thus influencing common prosperity. We draw upon insights from the fault tolerance and social inclusion theories to develop a model that illuminates how the digital economy enhances common prosperity through the resilience of environmental investment. We used econometric, gray predictive modeling methods for data analysis. We propose environmental investment resilience, including flexibility and stability, as a mediating mechanism through which the digital economy can improve common prosperity. This study selected Chinese cities in 2010–2021 as a sample for the experiment and employed a difference-in-differences model to examine whether the digital economy enhances regional common prosperity. The results show that the digital economy improves common prosperity through the resilience of environmental investment. Specifically, the digital economy enhances the flexibility and stability that are two indicators of resilience in environmental investments, which in turn enhances the level of common prosperity. Moreover, the relationship between environmental investment resilience and common prosperity is strengthened by inaugurating a high-speed rail. In addition, this relationship is weakened in an aging population. Finally, we focused on environmental investment efficiency using a gray prediction model. The results show that environmental investment efficiency generally shows an upward trend in fluctuation, which proves the robustness of our results.

Numerous organizational researchers have acknowledged that COVID-19 reduced the profit in the tourism industry. Some tourism firms decreased the cost by reducing the investment of CSR in order to increase the profit. However, the relevant literature remains scarce. The main purpose of this study is to explore the effect of COVID-19 on CSR investment in the tourism industry. This study fills the gap between stakeholder and cost stickiness theories. Based on a quasi-experiment of listed Chinese tourism companies from 2017 to 2021, the study finds that COVID-19 caused tourism firms to increase strategic CSR and decrease a responsive one. In addition, tourism firms that adopted cost leadership strategies trimmed responsive CSR more than strategic CSR. Tourism firms with differentiation leadership strategies increased strategic and decreased responsive CSR. Tourism firms with higher levels of political connections increased responsive CSR, while tourism firms with higher organizational resilience increased strategic CSR. At the theoretical level, this study reveals the theoretical mechanism of COVID-19 on tourism firms’ adjustment of CSR from the perspective of cost stickiness. On a practical level, it helps inform tourism firms’ decision-making regarding CSR adjustments for sustainable development when they face widespread crisis scenarios.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been widely discussed. However, the existing literature does not delve into the theoretical mechanism to show how companies adjust their CSR in the face of minimum wage increases. This may be due to the lack of a theoretical framework that clarifies the relationship between minimum wage increases and CSR adjustments. The objectives of this study is to fill this gap by investigating the impact of minimum wage increases on CSR, employing both cost stickiness and optimal distinctiveness theories. We use the data from the CSMAR database, the Human Resources and Social Security Administration, and Hexun rating system. The subject of this study is China’s A-share listed companies during 2010–2020. This study employs fixed-effects models for a panel data. The findings reveal that minimum wage increases are significantly associated with a reduction in both strategic CSR and responsive CSR. Notably, the decrease in responsive CSR outweighs that of strategic CSR. Furthermore, our results indicate that customer concentration or CSR sensitivity significantly moderates this relationship. More particularly, firms with higher customer concentration are less responsive to minimum wage increases in their CSR activities. Firms with higher sensitivity in CSR are more likely to mitigate the reducing effect of the minimum wage on CSR. By revealing how minimum wage increases affect CSR and its economic consequences, our study provides scientific recommendations for policymakers to measure the impact of minimum wage policies at the firm level.

Numerous researchers acknowledge that the occupational pension protects employees. However, in China, the total cost of occupational pensions is shared between employees and employers, representing a significant financial commitment. This study aimed to explore the effect of the occupational pension on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and organizational resilience. Drawing on insights from cost-stickiness and resource-based theories, we developed a model that elucidated the influence of occupational pensions on firms’ approaches to CSR within the context of COVID-19 and how this, in turn, impacted organizational resilience. This study categorized CSR into strategic and responsive activities, employing the concept of cost stickiness as a framework. We analyzed a sample of 34,145 observations from Chinese A-share listed companies spanning the period 2010–2023 to examine the influence of occupational pension adjustments on CSR strategies. The findings of this study revealed that the cost pressure associated with contributions to occupational pensions prompted firms to decrease their engagement in responsive CSR activities while enhancing their strategic CSR initiatives. Furthermore, it was observed that strategic CSR contributed to improved organizational resilience, whereas responsive CSR did not exhibit the same effect. The relationship between occupational pension contributions and CSR was found to be significantly and negatively moderated by factors such as the minimum wage and population aging. Conversely, the relationship between CSR and organizational resilience was significantly and positively moderated by digital transformation and marketing capabilities.