This study combines internal and external perspectives to examine the antecedents of corporate social and environmental irresponsibility. In terms of internal factors, we focus on the extent to which a firm incorporates corporate social responsibility (CSR) into its business strategy and the level of firm‐specific R&D investment. With respect to external factors, we focus on market cost pressure and local government corruption. We developed hypotheses and tested them using original survey data of 295 Chinese firms covering four years. The results show that incorporating corporate social responsibility into business strategy and investing in R&D both predict less socially or environmentally irresponsible behavior by a firm. In contrast, cost pressures and government corruption correlate with an increased likelihood of irresponsible social and environmental behavior by firms.