The military imprint: The effect of executives’ military experience on firm pollution and environmental innovation

Is carbon emission trading a green blessing or a curse for firm performance in China? A quasi-experiment design and exploring the spatial spillover effect

This paper conducts quasi-experiment design with Chinese listed companies microdata to investigate the effect and mechanism of corporate participation in carbon emission trading market on firm financial performance by using the staggered difference-in-differences method. We show that: a) corporate participation in carbon emission trading market can enhance firm financial performance; b) an increase in green innovation ability and a decrease in strategic choice variance both partially mediate the relationship between carbon emission trading and firm performance; c) executive background heterogeneity and external environmental uncertainty moderate the relationship between carbon emission trading and firm performance in different directions; d) our further study indicates that carbon emission trading pilot policy has a spatial spillover effect on firm financial performance in the neighboring provinces. Therefore, we recommend that the government and enterprises make an effort to further stimulate the vitality of corporate participation in carbon emission trading market.

The impact of top managers' military experience on enterprises' ESG performance: Evidence from Chinese listed enterprise

Sustainable development is crucial for enterprises' long-term development and influences broader socio-economic outcomes. The ESG performance is essential for assessing enterprises' sustainable development. Executives, as crucial implementers of corporate strategy, play an indispensable role in the pursuit of sustainable development. However, the impact of executives' military background on enterprise ESG performance remains understudied and lacks consensus in the existing literature. Therefore, this study examines the logical relationship between top managers' military experience and Chinese enterprises' performance concerning environmental protection, social responsibility and corporate governance (ESG) using data from 4543 publicly traded companies between 2010 and 2021. The results demonstrate that top managers' military experience is positively correlated with enterprises' ESG performance. The promotional impact of the baseline regression indicates that the effect is primarily imparted through enterprises' governance, including profit, total revenue and net profit. Heterogeneity tests show that top managers' military experience is a more effective means to promote enterprises' ESG performance in high research and development investing enterprises, small enterprises, those with female directors and enterprises in central and western China. This study not only enriches the understanding of the economic implications of executive military experience, but also provides theoretical support for enterprises to formulate relevant policies and construct management teams to improve their ESG performance and achieve sustainable development.

CEO's Childhood Experience of Natural Disaster and CSR Activities

Interest in the drivers of firms' corporate social responsibility (CSR) is growing. However, little is known about the influence of a CEO's childhood experience of natural disasters on CSR. Using archival data, we explore this relationship by offering three mechanisms that may account for how the CEO's childhood experience of natural disaster is related to their CSR. More specifically, while prior research has established a positive relationship based on the post-traumatic growth theory, we show that the dual mechanisms of prosocial values and a CEO's risk aversion explain the positive relationship. We further find that the positive relationship is stronger (1) when CEOs have longer career horizons and (2) when community social capital is high. This study contributes to both research and managerial implications on the topics of CEO's childhood experience and CSR. In particular, this study advances the upper echelon theory by revealing that a CEO's childhood experience of natural disaster is a useful yet relatively underexplored variable that can help explain the substantial variations in firms' CSR. Moreover, we emphasize that a CEO's career horizons and level of community social capital are important variables that further amplify the effect of a CEO's childhood experience of natural disaster on the firm's CSR commitment.

Self-interest or altruism: Entrepreneurs' military experience and the motivation of corporate philanthropic donations

This study aims to explore the motivation of corporate philanthropic donations through investigating the impact of entrepreneurs' military experience. Based on the data from the 12th Chinese privately owned enterprises survey, this study finds that entrepreneurs' military experience has a positive impact on corporate philanthropic donations and the result keeps consistent after a series of robustness tests. Further, corporate financing constraints do not significantly influence the relationship between entrepreneurs' military experience and corporate philanthropic donations, while return on equity (ROE) strengthens the relationship. Therefore, entrepreneurs with military experience still donate even if their firms suffer from financial constraints. When firms achieve higher ROE, they will donate more. The findings suggest that the donations of firms with military entrepreneurs are more likely to be altruistic, enriching the understanding of the motivation of corporate philanthropic donations.