The Impact of Employee Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Training on CSR Performance: Evidence from Non-Financial Firms Listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) training plays a crucial role in deepening employees’ understanding of the ethical, social, and environmental expectations associated with their work. Such training helps build the attitudes and competencies that strengthen organisational CSR performance and contribute to long-term trust and value creation for stakeholders. Drawing on the Resource-based view (RBV), this study examines how employees’ CSR training influences CSR performance and further explores how firm size and CSR expenditures shape this relationship. The study employed purposive sampling, guided by clear inclusion and exclusion criteria, to identify 488 non-financial firms listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) between 2010 and 2024. Data were sourced from the Bloomberg database. To ensure robust and reliable estimates, the analysis utilised Feasible Generalized Least Squares (FGLS), the Augmented Mean Group (AMG) estimator, and the two-step System Generalized Method of Moments (GMM). The findings indicate that employees’ CSR training, captured by the number of training sessions provided annually, has a significant and positive effect on CSR performance. Moreover, both firm size and CSR expenditures were found to strengthen the influence of CSR training on CSR outcomes. These results suggest that managers and policymakers should give sustained attention to CSR-related capacity-building efforts. Regular, well-designed CSR training can enhance employees’ awareness and ethical conduct, foster stronger engagement, and ultimately support more effective and sustainable corporate practices.