Search

This paper examines the dynamic impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on firms��� performance by estimating the yearly effect of disclosing CSR on the financial performances among 1667 firms in the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) and Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE) from 2005 to 2019. The study exploits CSR as a quasi-natural experiment to test the hypothesis that firms��� mandatory disclosure of CSR activities undermines their financial performance in the short run but benefits their financial performance in the long run with the difference-in-difference method. The firm financial performance is measured by widely used metrics for evaluating profitability and returns: return on equity (ROE), Tobin���s Q, and annualized stock return. The difference-in-difference model controls for the year fixed effect and the industry fixed effect while considering influencing firm characteristics such as free-float market capitalization, total asset, leverage ratio, and ownership status as controls. The empirical results of the ROE, Tobin���s Q, and annualized stock return support the hypothesis that the mandatory disclosure of CSR report undermines firm financial performance in the short run but benefits the firm performance in the long run. The regression indicates that the mandatory CSR disclosure decreases Chinese firms��� stock return in the first 9 years but starts to enhance stock return after the 9th year after the mandate. Likewise, when Tobin���s Q is used to measure firm performance, the decreasing trend of the negative CSR coefficients (measuring Tobin���s Q changes) starts to increase after the 7th year after the mandate. Also, when ROE is used to measure firm performance, the increasing trend of the negative CSR coefficients (measuring ROE changes) starts to decrease after the 9th year after the mandate. Overall, the investigation provides useful guidance for firms��� stakeholders and regulators in understanding how such a non-financial factor influences a firm���s performance in the short versus the long run.

Herein, a core–shell tellurium–selenium (Te–Se) nanomaterial with polymer‐tailed and lateral heterojunction structures is developed as a photothermal absorber in a bionic solar‐evaporation system. It is further revealed that the amorphous Se shell surrounds the crystalline Te core, which not only protects the Te phase from oxidation but also serves as a natural barrier to life entities. The core (Te)–shell (Se) configuration thus exhibits robust stability enhanced by 0.05 eV per Se atom and excellent biocompatibility. Furthermore, high energy efficiencies of 90.71 ± 0.37% and 86.14 ± 1.02% and evaporation rates of 12.88 ± 0.052 and 1.323 ± 0.015 kg m−2 h−1 are obtained under 10 and 1 sun for simulated seawater, respectively. Importantly, no salting out is observed in salt solutions, and the collected water under natural light irradiation possesses extremely low ion concentrations of Na+, K+, Ca2+, and Mg2+ relative to real seawater. Considering the tunable electronic structures, biocompatibilities, and modifiable broadband absorption of the solar spectrum of lateral heterojunction nanomaterials of Te–Se, the way is paved to engineering 2D semiconductor materials with supporting 3D porous hydrophilic materials for application in solar desalination, wastewater treatment, and biomedical ventures.

New substituted cyclopentadienyl titanium complexes, Cp'TiCl2 (1), Cp'CpTiCl2 (2) and Cp'TiCl3 (3) (Cp'=(2-methoxyethyl)cyclopentadienyl) have been synthesized; complexes (1) and (3) have been studied by x-ray diffraction. Complex (1) forms red-plate crytals which belong to the monoclinic space group p21/a with unit cell parameters:a 11.431(1),b 7.116(1),c 21.13514 A, β 99.50(1)°, V=1695.5(4)A3 and Z=4. The structure of (1) is refined to the final R of 0.044 for 1833 soserved reflections. The orange octahedral crystals of (3) are monoclinic, space group P21/c with unit cell paranreters:a 7.896(2),b 11.015(5),c 25.213(6)A, β 92.13(2)°, V=2192(1) A3 and Z=8. Refinement for 1714 observed reflections gives the final R of 0.090. The crystal sinceture of (3) shows that the ethereal oxygen atom in the side chain on the Cp ring coordinates with the ratenum atom to form a chelate ring.