Corporate environmental responsibility and financial constraints for unlisted SMEs

In this paper, we examine the impact of corporate environmental responsibility on financial constraints among 16,275 unlisted small and medium-sized enterprises across 30 countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. We also assess how country-level economic, financial, and institutional development moderates the relationship between CER and financial constraints. Our findings reveal that SMEs demonstrating strong environmental responsibility face fewer financial constraints than their conventional counterparts. Moreover, the positive effect of superior CER performance on alleviating financial constraints is more pronounced in countries with higher levels of economic, financial, and institutional development. • Corporate environmental responsibility (CER) leads to fewer financial constraints. • Superior CER performance reduces financial constraints for SMEs. • The positive impact of CER is more pronounced in more developed countries.