Food Culture and Sustainable Development: Evidence from Firm-Level Sustainable Total Factor Productivity in China

Guangfan Sun, Xiangyu Cao, Junyi Chen and Hanqi Li
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Guangfan Sun: School of Business, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China
Xiangyu Cao: School of Business, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China
Junyi Chen: School of Business, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China
Hanqi Li: School of Resource and Environmental Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430079, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 14, 1-25

Abstract: This article studied whether food culture plays an important role in affecting the firm-level sustainable development. We linked firm-level sustainable total factor productivity to spicy-taste related food culture in China and found that firms in regions in which spicy culture plays a more prominent role showed higher sustainable productivity. Tests using the regional sunshine as an instrument suggested a causal interpretation. Moreover, firms more exposed to spicy culture showed more frequent equity incentive behavior, higher equity incentive intensity, and higher proportion of female executives, which suggests that the more proactive management behavior can be led by regional spicy culture. We also found that, compared with small-size firms, non-state-owned firms, and non-export firms, regional spicy culture has a stronger impact on large firms, state-owned firms, and export firms. Our results reveal the impact of food culture on the firm-level sustainable development.

Keywords: food culture; sustainable development; sustainable total factor productivity; regional spicy culture (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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