We study whether greater social trust is associated with a lower incidence of corporate misconduct. Both social norm and network theory suggest that social trust can affect managerial behavior and reduce the likelihood of misconduct behavior. Consistent with this prediction, we find that social trust is negatively associated with corporate misconduct behavior. Moreover, we show that, when media coverage is higher, the negative relation between social trust and corporate misconduct behavior is more pronounced. Further analyses suggest that social trust can (...) help mitigate both disclosure-related and nondisclosure-related misconduct. (shrink)

We examine whether and how CEO foreign experience affects firm’s green innovation. Using a sample of Chinese public companies and hand-collected CEO foreign experience data, we document a positive association between CEO foreign experience and corporate green innovation. Furthermore, consistent with the view that CEOs with foreign experience would play a more significant role when provided with more resources, we find that the positive relationship is more pronounced in less financially constrained firms, in state-owned enterprises, and in less competitive industries. (...) Additional analyses indicate that enhanced environmental ethics and general competency are two potential mechanisms through which CEO foreign experience affects corporate green innovation. Finally, we find that CEO foreign experience is positively related to green innovation quality and internationalization. Collectively, these findings suggest that CEO foreign experience is a significant factor for corporate green innovation in emerging markets. (shrink)

This paper examines the effect of financial shared service centers (FSSCs) on corporate misconduct. Using a sample of Chinese public companies with hand-collected FSSC data, we find that the adoption of FSSCs is negatively associated with the likelihood and frequency of corporate misconduct. The results hold to a battery of robustness tests. Moreover, we show that the negative association between FSSCs and corporate misconduct is more pronounced in firms that have no management equity ownership, disclose internal control weaknesses, and have (...) more subsidiaries. Additional analyses indicate that FSSCs can help mitigate both disclosure-related and nondisclosure-related misconduct. (shrink)