Food Culture and Corporate Innovation

This research analyzes the correlation between the food culture of a CEO’s birthplace and corporate innovation using a sample of Chinese listed firms from 2000 to 2016. We extend benign masochism and behavioral consistency theories to determine that CEOs born in Szechuan food culture are positively associated with corporate innovation. This association is robust to a series of robustness checks, including two-stage least squares (2SLS) approach, propensity score matching (PSM) procedure, Heckman two-step sample selection model, and the firm fixed effects model. In addition, the food culture of the CEO’s birthplace is more important in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) than in non-SOEs. We also find a positive association between the food culture of the CEO’s birthplace and the volatility of firm performance