Why CEO gender affects firms’ CSR behavior: The role of different types of imprint

The increasing presence of females in leadership has drawn attention to the effect of executive gender on socially responsible behavior due to the gender difference in ethics. In this study, we try to unpack why females in leadership have higher moral “voices” comparing with males, focusing on imprinting effects on the process of developing moral values. Arguing that the influence of same prominent environmental features reflected in an individual’s growth process is varied among different genders, we believe that gender difference in cognition and behavior can trace back to the process of imprinting formation. Employing the data on Chinese publicly listed companies over the 10-year period between 2008 and 2017, we find that firms with female CEOs conduct more CSR behavior than comparable firms with male CEOs. More importantly, the relation between CEO gender and CSR behavior is contingent on imprinting effects, including childhood disaster experience, traditional culture, and political ideology, such that CSR behavior of firms with female CEOs differs more compared to that of firms with male CEOs when imprinting effects are profound. Our study introduces a dynamic developing process of gender difference and illuminates the conditions under which firms are more likely to engage in ethical-related behavior.