Effects of Innovations and Moderating Role of Corporate Social Responsibility on the Financial Performance of the Firms Listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange in Different Industries

Innovation would enable companies to respond to competition and environmental changes, and by obtaining new capabilities, they would access to superior financial performance. The main objective of this research is to determine the impact of innovation and the moderating role of social responsibility on relationship between innovation and financial performance of companies in various industries.
The population of the study consisted of 184 active firms (1840 firm –year) listed in the Tehran Stock Exchange from 2007 to 2016. In order to investigate the effect of variables, the structural equation method and for analysis of patterns, a partial least squares (PLS-SEM) approach were used.
The results of the first hypothesis test show that in the Tehran Stock Exchange, innovation in automotive industry, tools and machinery, and pharmaceutical, chemical, and plastic industries posit a greater impact on financial performance than other industries. Innovative organizations have a superior financial performance. The results of the second hypothesis test indicate that direct and positive impact of social responsibility on financial performance of the company is significant. Social responsibility in the pharmaceutical, chemical, rubber and tile industries, cement, lime, plaster, and other industries show a greater impact on the financial performance of companies. As social responsibilities increase, companie's performance will also improve.
The results of the third hypothesis test indicated that there is a significant relationship between innovation and financial performance of the company in all industries when social responsibility is used as a moderating variable. But its impact on the automotive industry, machine parts, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and plastics, as well as the tile industry, cement, lime and plaster is more than other industries. In this case, the power of the model increases in all industries