Ideological and Political Baptism and Corporate Social Responsibility: Evidence From the Party School Experience of Chinese Executives

ABSTRACT To a large extent, the existing literature has not comprehensively explored how the ideological and political baptism of executives in their early years influences corporate decision‐making. Based on the imprinting and social identity theories, we investigate whether top executives' experience at Chinese Party schools (hereafter Party schools) significantly affects corporate social responsibility (CSR). Data on the Party school experience of the top executives of A‐share listed state‐owned enterprises (SOEs) in China from 2010 to 2019 were obtained. The Party school experience of top executives is found to significantly improve CSR performance, and this promotion effect is positively moderated by the level of regional poverty and government intervention. Further analyses show that experience at central‐level Party schools has a more significant and positive impact on CSR than experience at local‐level Party schools. Top executives' Party school experience is found to improve CSR in all dimensions, leading to the overall promotion of CSR. Moreover, the greater the power of management and the higher the quality of internal control, the more significant the promotion effect of top executive's Party school experience on CSR. This research reveals how internal and external factors influence the effect of top executives' Party school experience on CSR performance and examines the strengthening of executives' ideological imprint and social identity via different regional factors, ultimately contributing to the literature on both Party school experience and CSR.