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. 2023 Jan 6:1-26.
doi: 10.1007/s10551-022-05319-3. Online ahead of print.

CEO's Childhood Experience of Natural Disaster and CSR Activities

Daewoung Choi  1 , Hyunju Shin  2 , Kyoungmi Kim  3
Affiliations

CEO's Childhood Experience of Natural Disaster and CSR Activities

Daewoung Choi et al. J Bus Ethics. .

Abstract

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.

Keywords: CEO; CEO career horizon; CSR; Childhood experience; Natural disaster; Social capital.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interestThe authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Moderating effects of CEO career horizons
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Moderating effects of social capital
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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