Effects of CEO Overseas Experience on Corporate Social Responsibility: Evidence from Chinese Manufacturing Listed Companies

Zhaocheng Xu and Jingchuan Hou
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Zhaocheng Xu: School of Business Administration, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
Jingchuan Hou: School of Business Administration, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 10, 1-24

Abstract: With increasing economic globalization, CEOs with overseas study or work experience play a crucial role in corporate strategic decision making, especially in emerging economies. Using Chinese manufacturing companies publicly listed on the Shanghai or Shenzhen Stock Exchanges, we explore the influence of CEO overseas experience on corporate social responsibility (CSR), based on the upper echelons theory and behavioral theory of the firm. We find that CEOs with overseas experience have a stronger CSR thinking concept and are more inclined to fulfill CSR than CEOs without overseas experience. We also analyze the effects of the organization’s external environment (market competition intensity) and internal resources (organizational slack resources) on this relationship, and find that all of these factors can strengthen the relationship. We find that the effect of CEO overseas study experience is stronger than that of overseas work experience; CEOs with overseas experience from developed countries such as Europe and the United States have a stronger effect on CSR; CEO overseas experience leads to better performance in state-owned enterprises; but when the CEO is also the chairman of the board, the effect of CEO overseas experience on CSR is weaker; female CEOs’ overseas experience has a stronger positive effect on CSR than male CEOs’; and the effect of CEO overseas experience on CSR is greater when the CEO is highly educated.

Keywords: CEO overseas experience; corporate social responsibility; market competition intensity; slack resources (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (15)

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