Religious atmosphere, seismic impact, and corporate charitable donations in China

• Published in: Energy economics 2024-03, Vol.131, p.107369, Article 107369
• Main Authors: Huang, Ruixian, Shi, Yujing, Li, Danyang, Wang, Shuoxiang, Jia, Zhehao
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Corporate philanthropy; Informal institution; Natural disaster; Religious and cultural atmosphere; Seismic activity
• ISSN: 0140-9883
• DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2024.107369

This study examines the external socio-cultural and natural environment factors that driving corporate philanthropy in China. We focus on two predominant influences: religiosity, specifically the traditional Three-Teachings (Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism), and seismic activities. Using a large sample of 31,673 firm-year observations from Chinese listed firms from 2009 to 2020, our findings reveal that (a) firms immersed in more pronounced religious-cultural presence have higher donation incentives, and (b) firms experiencing higher seismic impacts or are located in high seismic risk areas show heightened corporate philanthropic tendencies. Our multidisciplinary approach bridges various academic disciplines, presenting an innovative framework for understanding the intersection of corporate philanthropy, socio-cultural environments, and natural disasters in China. Overall, we highlight the importance of external environmental factors in shaping corporate charitable behaviours. •Our novel framework contains philanthropy, informal institution and natural disaster.•We explore corporate philanthropy formation, socio-cultural and seismic influences.•Pronounced religious-cultural presence show greater willingness to giving.•Higher seismic impacts are correlated with heightened corporate philanthropy.•Substitution effect observed between Three-Teaching atmosphere and seismic activities.