IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/chieco/v90y2025ics1043951x25000094.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Are firms with hometown CEOs better citizens? Evidence from the corporate poverty alleviation participation in China

Author

Listed:
  • Li, Xiaobo
  • Huang, Min
  • Shao, Jinan
  • Li, Mengyao
  • Shangguan, Wuyue

Abstract

Support from the business world is an indispensable factor in alleviating poverty. Nevertheless, it is unclear what internal motivations drive firms to participate in poverty alleviation (PA) programs. In this study, leveraging social identity theory, we examine chief executive officer (CEO) hometown identity as an intrinsic driver for its PA participation when a firm has a hometown CEO. Employing a panel dataset of Chinese listed firms from 2016 to 2020, we find that CEO hometown identity has a positive effect on corporate PA participation. Furthermore, CEO media appearance and environmental complexity strengthen the relationship between CEO hometown identity and corporate PA participation, whereas organizational slack weakens this relationship. Our study is among the first to identify the mechanism through which CEO hometown identity affects corporate PA participation and provide references for other countries in the world suffering from poverty; that is, hometown companies and hometown CEOs can become key forces in alleviating poverty.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Xiaobo & Huang, Min & Shao, Jinan & Li, Mengyao & Shangguan, Wuyue, 2025. "Are firms with hometown CEOs better citizens? Evidence from the corporate poverty alleviation participation in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:chieco:v:90:y:2025:i:c:s1043951x25000094
    DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102351
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1043951X25000094
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102351?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alan Singer, 2006. "Business Strategy and Poverty Alleviation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 66(2), pages 225-231, June.
    2. repec:eme:aaaj00:09513570210435861 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Kasara, Kimuli, 2007. "Tax Me If You Can: Ethnic Geography, Democracy, and the Taxation of Agriculture in Africa," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 101(1), pages 159-172, February.
    4. Timothy B. Palmer & Robert M. Wiseman, 1999. "Decoupling risk taking from income stream uncertainty: a holistic model of risk," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(11), pages 1037-1062, November.
    5. Lin, Wen-Ting, 2014. "How do managers decide on internationalization processes? The role of organizational slack and performance feedback," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 396-408.
    6. Jingoo Kang & Andy Y. Han Kim, 2017. "The Relationship Between CEO Media Appearances and Compensation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(3), pages 379-394, June.
    7. Steven Si & Xuebao Yu & Aiqi Wu & Shouming Chen & Song Chen & Yiyi Su, 2015. "Entrepreneurship and poverty reduction: A case study of Yiwu, China," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 119-143, March.
    8. Zhang, Huiming & Huang, Jiying & Wu, Kai & Wang, Shouyang & Nygaard, Christian & Qiu, Yueming, 2022. "Do political connections affect corporate poverty alleviation decisions? Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    9. Lauren Cohen & Joshua Coval & Christopher Malloy, 2011. "Do Powerful Politicians Cause Corporate Downsizing?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 119(6), pages 1015-1060.
    10. Guo, Ping & Shi, Guifeng & Tian, Gary Gang & Duan, Siqi, 2021. "Politicians’ hometown favoritism and corporate investments: The role of social identity," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    11. Bai, Lijuan & Yan, Xiangbin & Yu, Guang, 2019. "Impact of CEO media appearance on corporate performance in social media," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    12. Shenggang Ren & Yue Wang & Yucai Hu & Ji Yan, 2021. "CEO hometown identity and firm green innovation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 756-774, February.
    13. Ying Zhang & Ji Li & Wanxing Jiang & Haomin Zhang & Yanghong Hu & Min Liu, 2018. "Organizational structure, slack resources and sustainable corporate socially responsible performance," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(6), pages 1099-1107, November.
    14. Guangyong Lei & Wanwan Wang & Junli Yu & Kam C. Chan, 2022. "Cultural Diversity and Corporate Tax Avoidance: Evidence from Chinese Private Enterprises," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 176(2), pages 357-379, March.
    15. José‐Luis Godos‐Díez & Laura Cabeza‐García & Roberto Fernández‐Gago & Mariano Nieto‐Antolín, 2020. "Does CEO media exposure affect corporate social responsibility?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(2), pages 825-840, March.
    16. Godoy-Bejarano, Jesús M. & Ruiz-Pava, Guillermo A. & Téllez-Falla, Diego F., 2020. "Environmental complexity, slack, and firm performance," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    17. Shuili Du & Edward Vieira, 2012. "Striving for Legitimacy Through Corporate Social Responsibility: Insights from Oil Companies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 110(4), pages 413-427, November.
    18. Ren, Shenggang & Cheng, Yingmei & Hu, Yucai & Yin, Chao, 2021. "Feeling right at home: Hometown CEOs and firm innovation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    19. Chris Forman & Anindya Ghose & Batia Wiesenfeld, 2008. "Examining the Relationship Between Reviews and Sales: The Role of Reviewer Identity Disclosure in Electronic Markets," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 19(3), pages 291-313, September.
    20. Sesan, Temilade & Raman, Sujatha & Clifford, Mike & Forbes, Ian, 2013. "Corporate-Led Sustainable Development and Energy Poverty Alleviation at the Bottom of the Pyramid: The Case of the CleanCook in Nigeria," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 137-146.
    21. Yuting Yi & Bangsheng Xie & Lixue Zhou & Yuanzhu Wei, 2020. "Does CSR affect the cost of equity capital: Empirical evidence from the targeted poverty alleviation of listed companies in China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(2), pages 1-22, February.
    22. Yuyuan Chang & Wen He & Jianling Wang, 2021. "Government Initiated Corporate Social Responsibility Activities: Evidence from a Poverty Alleviation Campaign in China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 173(4), pages 661-685, November.
    23. repec:eme:maj000:maj-01-2022-3431 is not listed on IDEAS
    24. Scott E. Yonker, 2017. "Do Managers Give Hometown Labor an Edge?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 30(10), pages 3581-3604.
    25. Shahzad, Ali M. & Mousa, Fariss T. & Sharfman, Mark P., 2016. "The implications of slack heterogeneity for the slack-resources and corporate social performance relationship," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(12), pages 5964-5971.
    26. Yu Shen & Di Gao & Di Bu & Lina Yan & Ping Chen, 2019. "CEO hometown ties and tax avoidance‐evidence from China's listed firms," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 58(5), pages 1549-1580, March.
    27. Jingxin Lv & Shuang Zhang & Shuang Zhang, 2022. "Hometown sentiment: CEO hometown identity and company audit fees," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 37(8), pages 993-1016, July.
    28. Kenneth Carow & Randall Heron & Todd Saxton, 2004. "Do early birds get the returns? An empirical investigation of early‐mover advantages in acquisitions," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(6), pages 563-585, June.
    29. Craig Deegan & Michaela Rankin & John Tobin, 2002. "An examination of the corporate social and environmental disclosures of BHP from 1983‐1997," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 15(3), pages 312-343, August.
    30. Sharon Alvarez & Jay Barney & Arielle Newman, 2015. "The poverty problem and the industrialization solution," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 23-37, March.
    31. Brian K. Boyd, 1995. "CEO duality and firm performance: A contingency model," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(4), pages 301-312.
    32. Duan, Yunlong & Wang, Wannan & Zhou, Wei, 2020. "The multiple mediation effect of absorptive capacity on the organizational slack and innovation performance of high-tech manufacturing firms: Evidence from Chinese firms," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 229(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Lin, Cuiliang & Long, Yue'e, 2025. "Hometown CEOs and corporate financialization✰," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Long, Zhineng & Xuan, Wenshuang & Zhang, Yanyu, 2023. "The dilemma of hometown identity: Evidence from Chinese corporate cost behavior," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    2. Xu, Nianhang & Li, Min & Xie, Rongrong & Chan, Kam C., 2024. "Double standards? The adverse impact of chairperson hometown ties on corporate green innovation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    3. Fu, Fanjie & Yao, Shujie & Fang, Jing & Zhang, Fan & Lin, Chuan, 2025. "CEOs' hometown connections and optimism in analyst earnings forecasts: Evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 1031-1052.
    4. Ye, Yong & Gao, Mengyang & Luo, Runmei, 2024. "Bright is the moon over my home village: Chinese local executives and environmental decoupling," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    5. He, Guanming & Li, Zhichao & Yu, Ling & Zhou, Zhanqiang, 2023. "Contribution to poverty alleviation: A waste or benefit for corporate financing?," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    6. Chen, Jing & Gao, Jun & Chan, Kam C. & Liu, Xinghe & Xu, Cheng, 2024. "The guardians: Do hometown CEOs curb controlling shareholders' tunneling?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 96(PA).
    7. Yang, Shoufu & Kong, Dongmin & He, Jiaqiong, 2025. "Social identity or social capital: Local CEOs and corporate ESG performance," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    8. Ding, Haoyuan & Hu, Yichuan & Kim, Kenneth A. & Xie, Mi, 2023. "Relationship-based debt financing of Chinese private sector firms: The role of social connections to banks versus political connections," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    9. Agyemang Rama & Bekolo Ngoa Celestin & Shuangying Chen & Konan Martin, 2022. "Assessment of Eco-Innovation Drivers within the Informal Sector in Ghana," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-19, June.
    10. Peng, Qiuping & Zhou, Huaikang, 2024. "Chinese land complex: Hometown ties and corporate land acquisition," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    11. Shenggang Ren & Yue Wang & Yucai Hu & Ji Yan, 2021. "CEO hometown identity and firm green innovation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 756-774, February.
    12. Guo, Zhaorui & Sun, Li & Chan, Kam C., 2025. "CEO hometown ties and initial public offering underpricing: Evidence from China's listed firms," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    13. Woo, Linda & Mun, Sung Gyun & Seo, Kwanglim, 2024. "Building resilience to crisis through slack resources: A longitudinal analysis of US hotels," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    14. Zhong, Xi & He, Xinming & Zhang, Wei, 2025. "Your potential knows no bounds: Do local CEOs influence firms’ overseas R&D activities?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    15. Fu, Fanjie & Fang, Jing & Zhang, Fan & Yao, Shujie & Ou, Jinghua, 2024. "CEOs' hometown connections and corporate risk-taking: Evidence from China," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    16. Kong, Dongmin & Pan, Yue & Tian, Gary Gang & Zhang, Pengdong, 2020. "CEOs' hometown connections and access to trade credit: Evidence from China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    17. Adu-Gyamfi, Richard & Kuada, John & Asongu, Simplice, 2018. "An Integrative Framework for Entrepreneurship Research in Africa," MPRA Paper 89133, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Dolores Gallardo-Vázquez & Luis Enrique Valdez-Juárez & José Luis Lizcano-Álvarez, 2019. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Intellectual Capital: Sources of Competitiveness and Legitimacy in Organizations’ Management Practices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-29, October.
    19. Min Huang & Mengyao Li & Cailing Huang, 2024. "Confucianism culture and green innovation: Evidence from Chinese industrial firms," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(5), pages 4862-4877, September.
    20. Chen, Yuanyuan & Jiang, Ellen Jin & Mo, Phyllis Lai Lan, 2025. "Does a founder’s cultural imprint affect corporate ESG performance?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:chieco:v:90:y:2025:i:c:s1043951x25000094. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/chieco .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.