From childhood poverty to good boss: the impact of CEO's early-life experience on corporate employee responsibility

Employees are considered essential stakeholders and fundamental competitive resources of firms, highlighting the significance of CEO attention towards employee responsibility. Drawing on upper echelons theory and imprint theory, this study aims to examine the relationship between early-life poverty experience of CEOs and employee responsibility using panel data of Chinese A-share listed companies. Results indicate that CEOs with early-life poverty experience exhibit higher employee responsibility, which is a robust finding across different tests. The study highlights that this effect is more pronounced for highly educated CEOs, state-owned enterprises, and regions with weak legal governance. Additionally, our research indicates that CEOs with poverty experience not only increased basic social security and employee benefits but also reduced perquisite consumption. This study contributes to the research on the influence of executive background on corporate management and the literature on employee responsibility from the perspective of altruistic behavior.