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Business owners’ achieved social status and corporate philanthropy: Evidence from Chinese private small- and medium-sized enterprises

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 September 2016

Yongqiang Gao ,
Taïeb Hafsi  and
Xiaobin He
Yongqiang Gao*
Affiliation:
School of Management, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan City, P.R. China
Taïeb Hafsi
Affiliation:
HEC, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada
Xiaobin He
Affiliation:
School of Management, Fudan University, Shanghai City, P.R. China
*
Corresponding author: yqgao@mail.hust.edu.cn
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Abstract

Using a nationwide survey of Chinese private small- and medium-sized enterprises, this study examines the effect of business owners’ achieved social status (AcSS) on corporate philanthropy (CP). AcSS is an institutional resource, sometimes an institutional constraint, which should lead to higher CP. In this study, it is measured by a composite index of business owners’ income, education, political ties, and individual donations. AcSS has a positive effect on CP. In different regressions, we find that individual variables, income, political ties, and individual donations are positively associated with CP, while the effect of education is not significant. Firm visibility moderates (weakens) the effect of AcSS, while owners’ equity ratio has no discernable moderation effect on CP. Overall, this study confirms that owners’ AcSS, an important resource for the firm, plays a significant role in corporate social behavior. It increases pressures and expectations from the public, leading to higher CP.

Keywords

achieved social statusbusiness ownercorporate philanthropyChinese private SMEsneo-institutional theory
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 23 , Issue 2 , March 2017 , pp. 277 - 296
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2016 

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