Faculty members of our school have conducted collaborative research on the impact of informal institutions such as social trust, regional culture, and clan culture, and published a series of cooperative research papers in journals including Journal of Management Engineering, Management Review, and Singapore Economic Review. This highlights the practical results of the school's efforts to promote organized scientific research.
The paper Social Trust and Corporate Rent-Seeking Behavior, co-authored by Professor Liu Xiaoyuan, Yu Yanzhou (PhD student), and Professor Pang Shoulin, was published in the 5th issue of 2025 in the important journal Journal of Management Engineering (CUFE Class A). Corporate rent-seeking behavior seriously hinders the sustained, stable growth and high-quality development of China's economy. However, research on how to effectively curb corporate rent-seeking behavior remains insufficient, especially the "black box" of the mechanism by which social trust—an informal institution—influences corporate implicit rent-seeking behavior has not yet been opened. Based on data from Chinese A-share listed companies and the China General Social Survey, this paper uses the OLS method to empirically test the impact of social trust on corporate implicit rent-seeking behavior. The research results show that: social trust can effectively curb corporate implicit rent-seeking behavior; performance expectation gap has an inverted U-shaped moderating effect on the relationship between social trust and corporate implicit rent-seeking behavior; media attention has a positive moderating effect on the relationship between social trust and corporate implicit rent-seeking behavior. Mechanism tests indicate that "belief in fair competition" and "suppression of reputation costs" are important mechanisms through which social trust affects corporate implicit rent-seeking behavior. In addition, further analysis reveals that the longer a company has existed, the stronger the inhibitory effect of social trust on its implicit rent-seeking behavior. The paper not only provides empirical evidence for how social trust affects corporate implicit rent-seeking behavior in the Chinese context but also offers a theoretical basis for the government to govern corporate rent-seeking behavior by fostering social trust.
The paper Social Trust and the Stability of Corporate Top Management Teams, co-authored by Professor Liu Xiaoyuan, Yu Yanzhou (PhD student), Professor Zhang Guangli, and Professor Pang Shoulin, was published in the 3rd issue of 2025 in the important journal Management Review (CUFE Class A). This paper focuses on the impact of regional social trust on the stability of corporate top management teams (TMTs). Based on the fact that there are significant differences in social trust levels across regions in China, the paper explores the theoretical logic of how regional social trust affects TMT stability from the perspective of social norms in accordance with institutional theory. Using data on regional social trust in China and Chinese A-share listed companies, it empirically tests the impact of regional social trust on TMT stability, as well as the moderating effects of performance expectation gap and market environment on the relationship between the two. The study finds that: the higher the level of regional social trust, the stronger the stability of corporate TMTs; performance expectation gap negatively moderates the relationship between regional social trust and TMT stability; market munificence and market instability in the market environment positively and negatively moderate the relationship between regional social trust and TMT stability, respectively. Based on the above conclusions, management implications for corporate TMT governance and improving regional trust levels are proposed.
The cooperative paper Son Preference, Family Control and Family Member Selection Bias: Evidence from Chinese Listed Family Firms, with Yu Xiaodong as the corresponding author and Liu Xiaoyuan as a participating author, was published in the 1st issue of 2025 in the important journal Singapore Economic Review (CUFE Class A). From the perspective of son preference, this paper explores the impact of regional culture on local family firms. Based on a sample of all 604 listed family firms on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in China, the study finds that in regions where son preference is prevalent, local family firms prioritize introducing sons rather than daughters into the firm, are more likely to hire family CEOs, and hold more corporate control rights to consolidate family control. At the same time, family firms in regions with son preference also tend to select close relatives rather than distant relatives, and blood relatives rather than in-laws to join the firm. By exploring the impact of regional culture on family firms, this study verifies that family members are not a group with consistent interests, and some family members enjoy a higher status within the family. In addition, most studies consider Chinese family firms to be relatively homogeneous, while this study confirms the heterogeneity among family firms in different regions of China.
The cooperative paper Clan Culture and Corporate Social Responsibility in Chinese Family Firms, with Zhang Guangli as the first author and Liu Xiaoyuan as the corresponding author, was published in the 1st issue of 2024 in the important journal Singapore Economic Review (CUFE Class A). Using city-level genealogy density data, this paper empirically examines the impact of clan culture on the CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) behavior of family firms. The study finds that clan culture can significantly improve the CSR performance of family firms, and this conclusion remains robust after controlling for endogeneity issues. In terms of the impact mechanism, the spirit of solidarity and mutual assistance and the moral constraint effect inherent in clan culture are proven to be key paths. Further analysis shows that factors such as the experience of the ultimate controller, the degree of family participation, and the institutional environment have moderating effects on the relationship between clan culture and the CSR of family firms. Specifically, the positive impact of clan culture on CSR behavior is more significant in firms with high family participation, low government intervention, or where the ultimate controller has experienced the Cultural Revolution but lacks overseas experience.
CUFE Business School continues to promote organized scientific research and encourages faculty members to take "studying Chinese issues and telling Chinese stories well" as the starting point, focusing on important issues in China's economic and social development to carry out cooperative research. The school provides faculty with support in various aspects such as academic exchanges, research organization, and project application: it regularly holds the Excellent Academic Forum, inviting scholars at home and abroad to the school to exchange cutting-edge ideas in management; it launches an academic exchange support program to encourage faculty to go out and discuss management theories and practical issues with peers; it supports the construction of "Double First-Class" discipline directions and research institutions, and enhances the school's disciplinary competitiveness through organized scientific research; it holds project application mobilization and experience exchange meetings, advocating for faculty to actively participate in the application of various projects.
