Associate Professor Kung-Cheng Ho, a researcher of the Base, has published a collaborative paper titled " China’s historical imperial examination system and corporate social responsibility " in Pacific-Basin Finance Journal.

Abstract:

Using the sample of China’s A-share listed companies from 2010 to 2019 and the index of jinshi density to measure the historical imperial examination system, we empirically test the influence of the imperial examination system on corporate social responsibility. We find that the imperial examination system can encourage firms to improve their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) level. The results are robust to using the instrumental variable method, propensity score matching method, Heckman two-step regression, and a series of other tests. The mechanism analysis shows that regional education level and corporate social capital play a mediating role in the promotion of corporate social responsibility by the imperial examination system. Further analysis shows that the characteristics of the board of directors, external supervision pressure, and the shareholding ratio of institutional investors are important factors affecting the positive correlation. We further explore the role of the informal institution in corporate governance.

Keywords: Confucianism, Culture, Imperial examination system, CSR, Business ethics, Morality

Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pacfin.2022.101734

Teacher profile

Kung-Cheng Ho, Doctor of Taiwan Yuanzhi University, master supervisor of Finance, master supervisor of financial Engineering. His research interest covers Corporate finance, credit risk management, corporate social responsibility, information asymmetry risk and cross-disciplinary research. His research interest is in the Asia-Pacific Journal of Accounting & Economics, Corporate Governance: An International Review, Emerging Markets Review, Energy Economics, International Review of Economics & Finance, International Review of Financial Analysis, Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Corporate Finance, Journal of Forecasting, Pacific-Baisn Finance Journal,  Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting and other international SSCI journals published more than 40 articles, including 1 ABS 4-star journals, 12 three-star journals and 17 SSCI first-region journals. In addition, he has preached papers in dozens of important academic conferences at home and abroad. Including China Annual Finance Conference, China Annual Financial Engineering Conference, China Annual Management Conference, CICF, American Accounting Association, Asian Finance Association, European Finance Association, Europe Financial Management Association, Financial Management Association, Taiwan Management Institute, Western Economic Association International, etc. In addition, he has reviewed manuscripts for more than 20 journals at home and abroad, including Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Corporate Governance: An International Review, Economic Modelling, Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Financial Innovation, Investment Analysts Journal, International Journal of Emerging Markets, International Review of Economics and Finance, Managerial and Decision Economics, etc.