2018/09/05 by Ming Jia, Yi Xiang, Zhe Zhang · 63 citations
Business, Management and Accounting · Social Sciences · #Buddhism #Business #China #Culture, Economy, and Development Studies #Economics #Empirical research #Finance #Investment (military) #Islamic Finance and Banking Studies #Law #Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering #Norm of reciprocity #Political science #Politics #Reciprocity (cultural anthropology) #Social capital #Social exchange theory #Sociology #Stock (firearms) #Stock exchange
paper · doi:10.1111/joms.12405
published in Journal of Management Studies 56(2), 372-407 (Wiley)
openalex publication_date 2018/09/05 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25
Abstract This study examines how privately owned firms that are listed on Chinese stock exchanges and often surrounded by Buddhist or Taoist temples use money to bind themselves to officials who can mitigate their underinvestment problems. Philanthropic giving is a traditional way of achieving this task. Based on social‐exchange theory, we consider the potential for indirect reciprocity, in which visiting officials do favours for local businesses that do favours for other social actors. We analyse whether China’s Buddhist and Taoist cultures influence how philanthropic giving induces visiting officials to do favors. We also examine temple locations and the behaviours of privately owned firms listed on Chinese stock exchanges from 2001 to 2012 in an empirical study that provides strong support for our arguments. Results show that philanthropic giving initiates and amplifies indirect reciprocity between visiting officials and local businesses, thereby increasing corporate investment. The magnitudes of these effects depend on the magnitude of religious norms. Our study thus illuminates the influence of visiting officials on corporate investment.