Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are an important cornerstone of the national economy and social development, and a key driving force in promoting innovation and development. This paper selects a sample of China’s SME and GEM listed companies from 2012 to 2021 to explore the relationship between social responsibility disclosure, executive compensation incentives and R&D investment. The study found that: whether state-owned or non-state-owned, the disclosure of social responsibility information in small and medium-sized enterprises can promote R&D investment; for SMEs, executive compensation incentives can enhance the driving force of social responsibility disclosure on R&D investment, and this enhancement effect is higher in non-state-owned enterprises than in state-owned enterprises.