Abstract:

Recent studies interpret corporate philanthropy as driven by institutional pressures or executive values, but they often overlook the role of historical legacies. This study explores how historical foreign occupation continues to shape firm-level philanthropic behavior in contemporary China through intergenerational imprinting. Based on a panel of 1,334 Chinese private listed firms from 2008 to 2019, and using an instrumental variable approach, I find that firms led by board chairs born in areas historically exposed to treaty ports are significantly more likely to engage in corporate donations. This effect operates through two mechanisms. First, historical foreign occupation introduced legal infrastructures that made philanthropic activity more secure and legitimate. Second, it weakened local government capacity in public goods provision, prompting merchants to step in and institutionalizing private giving as a civic norm. These locally embedded norms were transmitted across generations and internalized by modern board chairs, forming civic imprints that enhance donations in their firms. My findings shed light on the historical roots of corporate social responsibility and contribute to literature on institutional legacy.

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Primary Track: Management and Business History

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Ms. Hailin Lu