This paper investigates the impact of a CEO's early famine experience on corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance, considering the moderating effects of environmental discretion (market abundance), organizational discretion (slack resources), and CEO discretion (CEO concurrently). Using data from Chinese manufacturing listed companies (2010-2019), the study finds that CEOs with early famine experiences exhibit better CSR performance. This effect is positively moderated by environmental and organizational discretion but negatively moderated by CEO discretion. Further analysis reveals stronger positive effects in state-owned firms, weaker effects with CEO turnover, stronger effects for male CEOs, and more significant effects for CEOs with lower education levels.

Zhaocheng Xu