This paper uses a biform game model to study firms’ trade-offs between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and competitive advantage. We focus on the context in which a competitive advantage may lead to a non-profitable scenario. It is possible that the first mover’s investment in competitive strength may deter itself from the market, which encourages firms’ investment in CSR over competitive strength. As a result, in some circumstances, firms may actively choose a CSR strategy over a competitive strategy. Our results show that (1) technological characteristics, (2) industrial structure, and (3) institutional environments are factors that influence the rational equilibrium of our model and the balance between competitive advantage and CSR. The mechanism and boundary on how firms make trade-offs between CSR activities and competitive strength are exhibited by our model, which provides a framework for decision-making and adds new insights into the strategic balance between market and non-market strategies.

中文翻译：

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企业社会责任与竞争优势之间的权衡：BIFORM 博弈模型

本文使用二元博弈模型来研究企业在企业社会责任（CSR）和竞争优势之间的权衡。我们专注于竞争优势可能导致非盈利情况的背景。先动者对竞争实力的投资可能会阻止自己退出市场，这会鼓励企业对企业社会责任的投资超过竞争实力。因此，在某些情况下，企业可能会主动选择企业社会责任战略而不是竞争战略。我们的研究结果表明，（1）技术特征、（2）产业结构和（3）制度环境是影响模型合理平衡以及竞争优势与企业社会责任平衡的因素。