In this study, we investigate how informal institutions, namely, chief executive officers' hometown connections with suppliers, impact firms' access to trade credit. Using unique data manually ...collected from China, we find that hometown connections significantly increase access to trade credit. The hometown effect is more pronounced for non-state-owned firms, firms in provinces with poorly developed financial institutions, and firms whose chief executive officers come from hometowns with a strong merchant guild culture or hold an important position in the hometown's chamber of commerce. We suggest two plausible channels for the hometown effect: information and social trust. Overall, this study contributes to the literature by documenting how hometown connections help firms to obtain external financing in emerging markets.
•CEO's hometown connections increase access to trade credit.•The effect is more pronounced for non-SOEs, firms in poor regions.•Plausible channels are information and social trust.
This research investigates the consumer purchase intention of products with geographic indications (GIs) based on a sample of 351 valid responses in three representative regions that are well known ...for their GIs of navel orange brands. Drawing on theories of consumer‐brand relationship, social identity or consumer identification with the brand, and psychological ownership, our empirical results support our research hypotheses. Specifically, it is found that consumers tend to have a higher purchase intention for hometown GI brands than for non‐hometown GI brands. Meanwhile, the impact of brand origin, that is, hometown versus non‐hometown GI brand, on consumer purchase intention of GI products is found to be mediated by consumer identification with the GI brands. In addition, psychological ownership moderates the impact of hometown GI brands on purchase intention in that high psychological ownership enhances the impact of brand origin on purchase intention, whereas low psychological ownership negates this effect. Theoretical contributions and managerial implications are provided.
Auditors’ hometown ties and audit quality Deng, Yingwen; Zhang, Ziyi; Liu, Yunjing
Journal of accounting and public policy,
11/2023, Letnik:
42, Številka:
6
Journal Article
Recent research highlights the significance of hometown ties in the fields of sociology and economics. Using unique, manually-collected microdata of corporate land transactions from China, this study ...focuses on the hometown ties between municipal officials and corporate executives and investigates their impact on corporate land acquisition outcomes. The results indicate that hometown ties between municipal officials and corporate executives positively influence the likelihood of corporate land acquisition, while concurrently reducing the acquisition cost. Mechanism analyses confirm that the municipal officials have notable control over corporate land allocation. Furthermore, the influence of hometown ties on land acquisition outcomes is primarily facilitated by the private-information and benefit-exchange channels. Heterogeneity analysis at the firm and land type levels are also explored. This study not only deepens the theorectial understanding of hometown ties, but also augments the literature on land resource misallocation from an informal institutional standpoint. Additionally, it offers fresh perspectives to the wider discourse on political connection research.
•Hometown ties between municipal officials and corporate executives increase corporate land acquisition likelihood and reduce cost.•Hometown ties more strongly affect corporate land acquisition in regions with greater government intervention and weaker oversight.•Firm’s hometown ties influence land acquisition mainly via private information and benefit-exchange channels.
The major challenge for filling the financing gaps of green energy is lower rate of return of green projects comparing to fossil fuels. Electricity tariffs are often regulated by governments; It has ...to be kept in low price to serve for every households as a necessary goods. Sources of revenue from green energy comes only from user charges. Hence it is not so much attractive for private investors. The paper is proposing a model for utilization of the tax revenue spillover of green energy supply by returning the portion of it to green energy projects in order to increase their rate of return. In addition, the paper is proposing a social community based funding scheme for smaller scale green projects (e.g. solar and wind). The paper theoretically and empirically shows that utilizing spillover effect in form of tax return for funding green energy projects will increase the rate of return and make them feasible and interesting for the private investors.
•Fossil fuels are dominating the energy basket of many developed and developing economies.•Addressing the financing gaps of green-energy projects is critical.•Investments in green energy projects is low mainly due to their lower rate of return comparing to fossil fuel projects.•Injection of the tax revenue generated from the spillover effect, will increase the rate of return of green projects.•The paper proposes a social community-based funding scheme for smaller green projects.
This study linked top executives' values to firm charitable donation behaviors. Based on a unique database which combined native place of chairmen of listed companies in China and provincial level ...regional culture data in China, we find that: firms with chairmen from provinces with stronger humane orientation and collectivism orientation will be more likely to donate, and the donation amount will be greater; while firms with chairmen from provinces with stronger assertiveness will be less likely to donate and the donation amount will be less. Further analysis indicates that top executives' hometown identity, which is the consistency between the chairman's native place and the listed company's registration place will significantly moderate the relationship between top executives' values and firm donation. The higher hometown identity of top executives, the positive correlations between collectivism and firm donation will be stronger, while the negative correlation between assertiveness and firm donation will be weaker. This paper has implications for upper echelons theory, research on top managers' value and firm social responsibility research.
•Corporate social responsibility is influenced by corporate leaders.•Firms having chairman with stronger humane and collectivism orientation are more likely to donate.•Corporate donation increases with in-group collectivism orientation while decreases with assertiveness orientation.•Hometown identity of chairman enhances the effects of collectivism while attenuates the effects of assertiveness.
Background
The left-behind children of overseas Chinese are a kind of vulnerable children in the eastern coastal areas of China. Previous studies have shown that there are problems in their school ...adjustment. This study explored the relationship between parent–child attachment and school adaptation among the left-behind children of overseas Chinese parents, as well as the chain mediating role of peer relationships and hometown identity.
Methods
A total of 1,047 students in grades 3–8 from 5 schools in Zhejiang Province were selected by cluster sampling. The cross-sectional survey was compiled from the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment, the Adaptation subscale of the Adolescent Mental Health Quality Questionnaire–Chinese Version, the Hometown Identity Scale, and the Student Peer Relationship Scale. Structural equation modeling was used to test the conceptual model.
Results
The results showed that the influence of parent–child attachment on school adjustment among the left-behind children of overseas Chinese was mediated by hometown identity. Moreover, this impact was also sequentially mediated by peer relationships and hometown identity.
Conclusion
This study revealed peer relationships and hometown identity as underlying mechanism that explained the influence of parent–child attachment on school adjustment among left-behind children. It may provide empirical support for future interventions.
Using hand-collected data on CEOs' hometown connections in Chinese A-share listed companies from 2009 to 2020, we find that such connections with suppliers are negatively associated with corporate ...risk-taking, reflected by the risk-taking behavior of CEOs with personal preference and self-interest. It is also found that the negative relationship between CEO hometown connections and corporate risk-taking is more pronounced for firms with greater economic policy uncertainty, firms in a period of tight monetary policy, firms with fewer analysts following, and firms with local CEOs, male CEOs, or CEOs without holding shares.
•CEOs' hometown connections with suppliers reduce corporate risk-taking.•The finding is attributed to CEOs' preferences for stability and the agency problem.•CEOs' attributes and external market environment explain CEOs' stability preference.•Analysts following behavior is found to have explained the agency problem.
This paper provides a systematic analysis of how hometown ties, the most common and distinct bases for interpersonal ties to build upon in China, could influence corporate governance in Chinese ...corporations by focusing on its impact on CEO dismissals and corporate social responsibility. We find that hometown ties between CEOs and board chairs reduce the likelihood of CEO dismissals and that the negative relationship between firm performance and CEO dismissals is weaker for hometown-connected CEOs in locally administered state-owned enterprises, for inside CEOs, for firms located outside board chairs’ hometowns, and for firms operating in regions with low social trust. Moreover, we find consistent evidence that hometown ties affect Chinese firms’ engagement in corporate social responsibility. Our study highlights the important role of hometown ties in Chinese relationship-based corporate governance. It also advances a normative ethical assessment of hometown-based favoritism by highlighting its distinct dynamics and impacts on focal actors and the third parties in specific contexts of actions.
