Corporate social responsibility, market rivalry and firm leverage: new evidence from a fixed-effect quantile regression approach

Previous research has employed conditional mean-focused regressions to examine the relationship between CSR and firm leverage in developed nations. By offering the first evidence in a developing country, this study employs a quantile technique to overcome the limitations of previous investigations. Our findings reveal that participation in corporate social responsibility activities has a negative and substantial influence on firm leverage at higher quantiles but no effect at lower quantiles. Our study shows that CSR spillovers on firm leverage take place through promoting employee benefits as well as improvements in the business environment.