Doing good to be green and live Clean! - Linking corporate social responsibility strategy, green innovation, and environmental performance: evidence from Maldivian and Moroccan small and medium-sized enterprises

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) approaches are becoming increasingly widespread as environmental performance (EP) continues to be a significant aspect of developing a firm's socioemotional wealth, such as legitimacy, trustworthiness, and image. We draw on stakeholder and natural-resources-based view theories to investigate how CSR strategies may improve environmental performance via the underlying mechanism of green innovation (GI), especially in developing countries. Useable data was collected from 367 Maldivian and Moroccan service enterprises and analyzed using partial least squares (PLS-SEM) methodology. The findings indicated that external (Environment and Community) and internal (Employees) CSR-related approaches significantly impact environmental performance. Furthermore, the study suggests a mediation effect of GI on the CSR-EP nexus. Finally, this paper opens significant directions, enriches existing theories, and provides fascinating implications for SMEs professionals.