Are Executives More Socially Responsible When Raised with Siblings? Evidence from Chinese Family Firms

We examine the impact of a chairperson having siblings on the corporate social responsibility (CSR) of a firm. The findings suggest that when a firm has a siblings-chairperson, the firm has a better CSR rating than a firm with a chairperson having no siblings. The conclusions are robust to a regression discontinuity research design. Additional analysis suggests that the mechanisms behind siblings and CSR are consistent with both competition and altruistic effects among siblings. Further analysis suggests that the positive impact of a siblings-chairperson on the CSR rating of firms is more salient when the local familism culture is stronger, when government official career advancement incentives are lower, or when the siblings are directors or CEOs of other firms.