IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/stratm/v42y2021i11p2137-2161.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

CEO early‐life disaster experience and corporate social performance

Author

Listed:
  • Don O'Sullivan
  • Leon Zolotoy
  • Qingliang Fan

Abstract

Research Summary Despite an extensive upper echelons literature on how CEOs' prior experiences influence firm behavior, we know little about the influence of traumatic experiences early in CEOs' lives. Drawing on post‐traumatic growth theory, we describe how traumatic experiences early in CEOs' lives influence corporate social performance. Our theory points to the asymmetric impact of CEO early‐life trauma on responsible and irresponsible corporate social performance and to two boundary conditions: CEO age at the time of the traumatic event and the severity of the event. We develop and test our arguments in the context of large‐scale disasters experienced early in the CEO's life. Our findings advance strategic management research on the relationship between CEO experiences and firm outcomes. Managerial Summary We consider how traumatic experiences in childhood shape CEO cognition and values and, therefore, firm behavior. Our findings suggest that CEOs who have had to deal with traumatic early‐life events may gain psychological strength from such experiences and that their psychological growth informs firm conduct. Specifically, our findings indicate that experience of trauma early in the CEO's life is positively associated with corporate social performance. The implication is that boards aspiring to enhance this aspect of corporate performance may wish to consider the early‐life experiences of prospective CEOs. While early‐life experiences are unlikely to feature on a prospective CEO's résumé, the typical selection process for senior executive appointments is well placed to unearth executives' life histories.

Suggested Citation

  • Don O'Sullivan & Leon Zolotoy & Qingliang Fan, 2021. "CEO early‐life disaster experience and corporate social performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(11), pages 2137-2161, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:stratm:v:42:y:2021:i:11:p:2137-2161
    DOI: 10.1002/smj.3293
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.3293
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/smj.3293?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Caroline Flammer & Jiao Luo, 2017. "Corporate social responsibility as an employee governance tool: Evidence from a quasi-experiment," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(2), pages 163-183, February.
    2. Guoli Chen & Craig Crossland & Shuqing Luo, 2015. "Making the same mistake all over again: CEO overconfidence and corporate resistance to corrective feedback," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(10), pages 1513-1535, October.
    3. Alan Muller & Ans Kolk, 2010. "Extrinsic and Intrinsic Drivers of Corporate Social Performance: Evidence from Foreign and Domestic Firms in Mexico," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(1), pages 1-26, January.
    4. Timothy D. Hubbard & Dane M. Christensen & Scott D. Graffin, 2017. "Higher Highs and Lower Lows: The Role of Corporate Social Responsibility in CEO Dismissal," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(11), pages 2255-2265, November.
    5. Donald C. Hambrick & Albert A. Cannella, 2004. "CEOs who have COOs: contingency analysis of an unexplored structural form," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(10), pages 959-979, October.
    6. Bai, Xiaoou & Tsang, Eric W.K. & Xia, Wei, 2020. "Domestic versus foreign listing: Does a CEO's educational experience matter?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 35(1).
    7. Heli Wang & Shan Zhao & Guoli Chen, 2017. "Firm-specific knowledge assets and employment arrangements: Evidence from CEO compensation design and CEO dismissal," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(9), pages 1875-1894, September.
    8. Yi Tang & Cuili Qian & Guoli Chen & Rui Shen, 2015. "How CEO hubris affects corporate social (ir)responsibility," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(9), pages 1338-1357, September.
    9. Wei Shi & Robert E. Hoskisson & Yan Anthea Zhang, 2017. "Independent director death and CEO acquisitiveness: Build an empire or pursue a quiet life?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(3), pages 780-792, March.
    10. Claude Berrebi & Jordan Ostwald, 2011. "Earthquakes, hurricanes, and terrorism: do natural disasters incite terror?," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 149(3), pages 383-403, December.
    11. Henri Servaes & Ane Tamayo, 2013. "The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Firm Value: The Role of Customer Awareness," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 59(5), pages 1045-1061, May.
    12. Guoli Chen & Craig Crossland & Sterling Huang, 2020. "That Could Have Been Me: Director Deaths, CEO Mortality Salience, and Corporate Prosocial Behavior," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(7), pages 3142-3161, July.
    13. Arthur Lewbel, 2012. "Using Heteroscedasticity to Identify and Estimate Mismeasured and Endogenous Regressor Models," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 67-80.
    14. Claude Berrebi & Jordan Ostwald, 2011. "Earthquakes, hurricanes, and terrorism: do natural disasters incite terror?," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 149(3), pages 383-403, December.
    15. Caroline Flammer & Aleksandra Kacperczyk, 2019. "Corporate social responsibility as a defense against knowledge spillovers: Evidence from the inevitable disclosure doctrine," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(8), pages 1243-1267, August.
    16. Jaepil Choi & Heli Wang, 2009. "Stakeholder relations and the persistence of corporate financial performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(8), pages 895-907, August.
    17. Oleg V. Petrenko & Federico Aime & Jason Ridge & Aaron Hill, 2016. "Corporate social responsibility or CEO narcissism? CSR motivations and organizational performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(2), pages 262-279, February.
    18. Irmela F. Koch‐Bayram & Georg Wernicke, 2018. "Drilled to obey? Ex‐military CEOs and financial misconduct," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(11), pages 2943-2964, November.
    19. Yi Tang & Daniel Z. Mack & Guoli Chen, 2018. "The differential effects of CEO narcissism and hubris on corporate social responsibility," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(5), pages 1370-1387, May.
    20. Bill McEvily & Jonathan Jaffee & Marco Tortoriello, 2012. "Not All Bridging Ties Are Equal: Network Imprinting and Firm Growth in the Nashville Legal Industry, 1933–1978," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(2), pages 547-563, April.
    21. Caroline Flammer, 2015. "Does product market competition foster corporate social responsibility? Evidence from trade liberalization," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(10), pages 1469-1485, October.
    22. Mathew L. A. Hayward & Violina P. Rindova & Timothy G. Pollock, 2004. "Believing one's own press: the causes and consequences of CEO celebrity," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(7), pages 637-653, July.
    23. Gennaro Bernile & Vineet Bhagwat & P. Raghavendra Rau, 2017. "What Doesn't Kill You Will Only Make You More Risk-Loving: Early-Life Disasters and CEO Behavior," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 72(1), pages 167-206, February.
    24. S. Trevis Certo & Michael C. Withers & Matthew Semadeni, 2017. "A tale of two effects: Using longitudinal data to compare within- and between-firm effects," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(7), pages 1536-1556, July.
    25. Amy J. Hillman & Gerald D. Keim, 2001. "Shareholder value, stakeholder management, and social issues: what's the bottom line?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(2), pages 125-139, February.
    26. Paul C. Godfrey & Craig B. Merrill & Jared M. Hansen, 2009. "The relationship between corporate social responsibility and shareholder value: an empirical test of the risk management hypothesis," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 425-445, April.
    27. Ruchunyi Fu & Yi Tang & Guoli Chen, 2020. "Chief sustainability officers and corporate social (Ir)responsibility," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(4), pages 656-680, April.
    28. Steven N. Kaplan & Luigi Zingales, 1997. "Do Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivities Provide Useful Measures of Financing Constraints?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(1), pages 169-215.
    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. Weiyu Zhang & Xinyue Li & Shaowei Liu & Jong-wook Kwon, 2023. "The Chairman’s Rural Origin and Short-Term Expenditures in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-20, September.
    2. Zeye Zhang & Liuyong Yang & Xuerong Peng & Zhongju Liao, 2023. "Overseas imprints reflected at home: returnee CEOs and corporate green innovation," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(4), pages 1328-1368, September.
    3. Daewoung Choi & Hyunju Shin & Kyoungmi Kim, 2023. "CEO’s Childhood Experience of Natural Disaster and CSR Activities," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 188(2), pages 281-306, November.
    4. Zhiwei Yan & Xuerong Peng & Seoki Lee & Leibao Zhang, 2023. "How do multiple cognitions shape corporate proactive environmental strategies? The joint effects of environmental awareness and entrepreneurial orientation," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(4), pages 1592-1617, September.
    5. He, Zhongda & Guo, Biao & Shi, Yukun & Zhao, Yang, 2022. "Natural disasters and CSR: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    6. Shuairan Sang & Aiguo Yan & Mahmood Ahmad, 2024. "CEO Experience and Enterprise Environment, Social and Governance Performance: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-20, May.
    7. Yaping Wang & Mengting Zhang, 2024. "How Military Executives Shape Digital Transformation of Firms—The Moderating Role of Symbiosis Orientation and Market Power," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-17, June.
    8. Tang, Linjia & Guo, Yingying & Zha, Jianfeng & Zheng, Weiwei, 2024. "Acquiescence or Redemption: CEO’s early-life experience of environmental pollution and corporate green innovation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    9. Deng, Jiapin, 2023. "Born to be different: The role of local political leaders in poverty reduction in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    10. Wang, Shuangshi & Yan, Cheng & Zhao, Yuqian, 2024. "Technological peer pressure and corporate sustainability," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(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. Daniel L Gamache & François Neville & Jonathan Bundy & Cole E Short, 2020. "Serving differently: CEO regulatory focus and firm stakeholder strategy," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(7), pages 1305-1335, July.
    2. Zhu, Minghao & Yeung, Andy C.L. & Zhou, Honggeng, 2021. "Diversify or concentrate: The impact of customer concentration on corporate social responsibility," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).
    3. Ting-Ting Li & Kai Wang & Toshiyuki Sueyoshi & Derek D. Wang, 2021. "ESG: Research Progress and Future Prospects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-28, October.
    4. Saridakis, Charalampos & Angelidou, Sofia & Woodside, Arch G., 2023. "How historical and social aspirations reshape the relationship between corporate financial performance and corporate social responsibility," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    5. Tai-Hsi Wu & Hsiang-Lin Chih & Mei-Chen Lin & Yi Hua Wu, 2020. "A Data Envelopment Analysis-Based Methodology Adopting Assurance Region Approach for Measuring Corporate Social Performance," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 148(3), pages 863-892, April.
    6. Ruchunyi Fu & Yi Tang & Guoli Chen, 2020. "Chief sustainability officers and corporate social (Ir)responsibility," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(4), pages 656-680, April.
    7. Yuan Yuan & Gaoliang Tian & Louise Yi Lu & Yangxin Yu, 2019. "CEO Ability and Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 157(2), pages 391-411, June.
    8. Shili Chen & Niels Hermes & Reggy Hooghiemstra, 2022. "Corporate Social Responsibility and NGO Directors on Boards," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 175(3), pages 625-649, January.
    9. Han, Yu & Chi, Wei & Zhou, Jinyi, 2022. "Prosocial imprint: CEO childhood famine experience and corporate philanthropic donation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 1604-1618.
    10. Saridakis, Charalampos & Angelidou, Sofia & Woodside, Arch G., 2020. "What type of CSR engagement suits my firm best? Evidence from an abductively-derived typology," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 174-187.
    11. Jongwon Park & Sunyoung Kim & Albert Tsang, 2023. "CEO Personal Hedging and Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 182(1), pages 199-221, January.
    12. Nguyen, Thi Khanh Giang & Ozawa, Tomoyuki & Fan, Pengda, 2024. "Sanpo-yoshi, top management personal values, and ESG performance," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).
    13. Daewoung Choi & Hyunju Shin & Kyoungmi Kim, 2023. "CEO’s Childhood Experience of Natural Disaster and CSR Activities," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 188(2), pages 281-306, November.
    14. Naciye Sekerci & Jamil Jaballah & Marc van Essen & Nadine Kammerlander, 2022. "Investors’ Reactions to CSR News in Family Versus Nonfamily Firms: A Study on Signal (In)credibility," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 46(1), pages 82-116, January.
    15. Marko Reimer & Sebastiaan Doorn & Mariano L. M. Heyden, 2018. "Unpacking Functional Experience Complementarities in Senior Leaders’ Influences on CSR Strategy: A CEO–Top Management Team Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 151(4), pages 977-995, September.
    16. de la Fuente, Gabriel & Velasco, Pilar, 2024. "Pretending to be sustainable: Is ESG disparity a symptom?," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(2).
    17. Kais Bouslah & Abdelmajid Hmaittane & Lawrence Kryzanowski & Bouchra M’Zali, 2023. "CSR Structures: Evidence, Drivers, and Firm Value Implications," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 185(1), pages 115-145, June.
    18. Chiu, Sana (Shih-chi) & Hoskisson, Robert E. & Tony Kong, Dejun & Li, Andrew & Shao, Ping, 2023. "Predicting primary and secondary stakeholder engagement: A CEO motivation-means contingency model," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    19. Gao, Feng & Li, Yubin & Wang, Xinjie & Zhong, Zhaodong (Ken), 2021. "Corporate social responsibility and the term structure of CDS spreads," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    20. Franck Brulhart & Sandrine Gherra & Bertrand V. Quelin, 2019. "Do Stakeholder Orientation and Environmental Proactivity Impact Firm Profitability?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 158(1), pages 25-46, August.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:bla:stratm:v:42:y:2021:i:11:p:2137-2161. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/0143-2095 .

    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.