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Value of faith: Religious entrepreneurs and corporate longevity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 March 2019

Xingqiang Du ,
Quan Zeng Open the ORCID record for Quan Zeng [Opens in a new window] ,
Yingying Chang  and
Yingjie Du
Xingqiang Du
Affiliation:
School of Management, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian 361005, China
Quan Zeng*
Affiliation:
School of Management, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian 361005, China
Yingying Chang
Affiliation:
School of Business Administration, Jimei University, Xiamen, Fujian 361021, China
Yingjie Du
Affiliation:
School of Management, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Using the data on the religious belief of entrepreneurs in Chinese family firms, this study shows that religious entrepreneurs significantly positively affect corporate longevity, echoing the view that religious entrepreneurs can obtain managerial skills and share managerial knowledge about corporate operation through the conduit of religious attendance, and thus firms with religious entrepreneurs are more long-lived. Moreover, the development of factor markets across different provinces in China reinforces this positive relation between religious entrepreneurs and corporate longevity. Furthermore, qualitatively similar results can be found from various robustness tests, and our conclusions still stand after controlling for the potential selection bias in the research sample. Lastly, after differentiating different religious beliefs, the positive relation between religious entrepreneurs and corporate longevity is only valid for Western religious beliefs (but not for Eastern religious beliefs), and the reinforced role of the development of factor markets only stands for Eastern religious beliefs.

Keywords

religious entrepreneurscorporate longevitythe development of factor marketsthe social capital theoryChinese family firms
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 28 , Issue 4 , July 2022 , pp. 849 - 887
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2019

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