Corporate social responsibility and bank financial performance in China: The moderating role of green credit

Highlights: • CSR would make a negative impact on bank financial performance in the short term. • On the contrary, CSR would make a positive impact on bank financial performance in the long run. • Green credit plays a moderating role in the relationship between CSR and bank financial performance. Most of the existing studies have ignored the moderating role of green credit in the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and bank financial performance. Using the data of listed banks in China from 2008 to 2018, this paper investigates the impact of CSR on bank financial performance. Moreover, we document the mediating effect of green credit on their relationship. The results show that CSR would make a negative impact on bank financial performance in the short term. However, this relationship turns out to be positive in the long run. Besides that, green credit does play an important role in this relationship. Furthermore, we do a series of heterogeneity tests. Our conclusion would be useful both to the following researchers and the establishment of environmental policies.