1. Introduction
Sustainable development is considered the cornerstone of ensuring the future survival and prosperity of humanity [
1,
2,
3,
4]. At its core lies the aim of achieving long-term development by balancing the economic, social, and environmental needs and interests [
5,
6]. This concept emphasizes sustainable resource utilization, ecosystem stability, and human well-being enhancements [
6,
7,
8]. In practice, sustainable development requires the coordination of economic growth with environmental protection, social justice, and inclusivity [
4,
9]. Enterprises play a crucial role in achieving sustainable development [
3,
10]. By implementing measures such as reducing resource consumption, optimizing production processes, and enhancing product quality and safety, businesses can not only reduce costs and improve efficiency but also gain a competitive advantage in the market [
5]. Corporate social responsibility is key to achieving sustainable development [
9,
11,
12]. By practicing social responsibility, businesses can not only achieve economic success but also make positive contributions to society and the environment, thus achieving the goals of sustainable development [
13,
14]. Therefore, integrating corporate social responsibility into sustainable development strategies is crucial for achieving harmonious economic, social, and environmental development.
However, in today’s world, issues related to corporate social responsibility are increasingly prominent, with food safety and environmental protection problems frequently drawing social attention [
5,
9,
11]. The existence of these issues indicates that relying solely on laws and regulations is not sufficient to address corporate social responsibility problems. Although laws and regulations are important means of safeguarding social order and fair competition, in some cases, they may be inadequately enforced or contain loopholes [
15]. Therefore, in addition to formal systems, non-formal systems such as culture also need to be valued and guided.
Different regions have different natural characteristics and cultural environments, forming unique local customs, which are gradually transformed into cultural traits inherited from the region [
9,
16]. According to institutional economics theory [
17], local culture plays an important role in shaping individual preferences and attitudes, leading to significant differences in decision-making behavior [
18,
19]. This process also promotes shared cultural attributes within local firms, which in turn influences the diversity patterns of regional firm growth [
3,
20]. Particularly in China, a country with an evolving but imperfect formal institutional framework, traditional culture profoundly influences the Chinese people and is more binding than formal institutions in shaping individual behavior [
9,
15,
16].
China, heralded as the birthplace of tea, boasts a rich history steeped in tea culture. Despite this heritage, there exists a paucity of literature delving into the potential impact of tea culture on corporate behavior [
21,
22]. Within the limited discourse connecting tea culture to corporate advancement, Du and Xiao [
21] unveiled the inhibitory influence of tea culture on earnings management within companies, yet the broader ramifications of tea culture on corporate entities warrant further exploration. Tea, transcending its role as a beverage, holds a revered position in the daily lives of the Chinese populace. Its allure extends beyond mere taste and health benefits [
23], encapsulating unique cultural nuances that intricately shape individuals’ mental and physical realms, instilling positive values and ethical standards [
24,
25,
26].
Our endeavor revolves around investigating the impact of tea culture on CSR, given the intrinsic alignment between the essence of tea culture and CSR principles. Tea culture, on one facet, exalts inner tranquility and equilibrium [
21,
26]. Executives influenced by tea culture may lean towards adopting pro-social organizational strategies in a quest for inner harmony [
27]. Conversely, tea culture also places a premium on reverence and modesty. Rituals and etiquettes inherent in tea brewing and consumption epitomize the respect accorded to tea and serve as a representation of esteem for others [
28]. This ethos of humility cultivates a spirit of modesty, inclusivity, and appreciation for diverse values among individuals [
9]. Translated to the corporate sphere, companies infused with tea culture may exhibit heightened regard and consideration for stakeholders, thereby fortifying the impetus to proactively embrace social responsibility.
In examining the impact of tea culture on CSR, we used Chinese A-share listed companies as the study sample and female executives as the mediating variable. Considering the possible endogeneity in the main regression, we utilized the regional slope as an instrumental variable for tea culture. In addition, we conducted a series of robustness tests to confirm the lasting impact of tea culture. Furthermore, we sought to explore the differential impact of tea culture on CSR in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as state-owned enterprises (SOEs), examining these dynamics through the lens of firm size and ownership structure.
Our potential contributions are multifaceted. Firstly, we expand the literature on culture and finance by enhancing the understanding of the economic implications of tea culture. While existing research has primarily focused on the ability of tea culture to curb earnings management behavior in companies [
21], our study uncovers the impact of tea culture on CSR, thereby enriching the discourse on corporate sustainable development.
Moreover, we enrich the literature on the interplay between food culture and corporate finance. Current scholarly attention on dietary culture is largely categorized into two groups. The first concentrates on specific food cultures, particularly alcohol culture, affirming its significant influence on corporate behavior through social relationships [
29,
30]. The second category delves into the impact of food flavors from a physiological perspective, revealing, for instance, the influence of spicy flavors on individuals’ emotions and its impact on corporate sustainable development [
4]. Additionally, previous studies have explored the relationship between regional food culture differences and firm total factor productivity [
3]. In contrast, our research focuses on the concrete impact of tea culture, uncovering how it shapes positive values and moral standards. This expands the current understanding of the influence of specific food cultures on corporate dynamics.
Furthermore, we extend the literature on antecedents of CSR from the vantage point of informal institutions, offering empirical evidence for the impact of tea culture on CSR. While prior research exploring factors affecting CSR has predominantly centered on firm characteristics and formal institutions [
5], there has been a dearth of studies on the influence of informal institutions on CSR, with the primary focus being on Confucian and religious cultures [
27,
31,
32]. In contrast, our study confirms the influence of another crucial traditional culture in China on CSR, providing additional evidence to enhance the social norms of the Chinese market.
In summary, our paper contributes to the understanding of sustainable development in emerging market companies, furnishes valuable insights for governments and regulatory bodies to enhance local, sustainable governance, and further underscores the significant role of culture as a pivotal informal institution in the real economy.
The structure of the remaining sections of this paper is as follows:
Section 2 provides a literature review and outlines our proposed assumptions.
Section 3 introduces the description of data and variables.
Section 4 reports our main results, including a data summary, the relationship between tea culture and CSR, and an IV regression analysis.
Section 5 presents robust tests, while
Section 6 further analyzes the mechanism of tea culture and its heterogeneous effects. Finally,
Section 7 concludes with a discussion and summary of our findings.
7. Discussion and Conclusions
7.1. Discussion
This study focused on the impact of informal systems on CSR from the perspective of tea culture. Our study is directly related to Du and Xiao [
21]. In terms of research content, existing studies on the impact of tea culture on entrepreneurial behavior have mainly examined it from the perspective of earnings management. Specifically, Du and Xiao [
21] elucidated the role of local tea culture in shaping entrepreneurship, thereby effectively curbing corporate misbehavior. Our study provided new findings that further enrich the research on the impact of tea culture on entrepreneurial behavior.
First, our empirical results indicate that tea culture has significantly contributed to corporate social responsibility. In addition, from the perspective of female executives, we confirmed that female executives are the key mediating variable in the impact of tea culture on firms. Specifically, women have more opportunities to serve as corporate executives in regions where tea culture has a wider influence, thus promoting CSR. This finding suggests that the promotion of cultural inclusiveness and gender equality can encourage more women to participate in corporate leadership, thereby enhancing corporate social responsibility awareness and execution. This helps firms build a positive reputation at the societal level and contributes positively to long-term sustainable business development.
In addition, our study connects to the existing literature on the economic consequences of food culture. Sun et al. [
4] examined the effects of dietary tastes from a physiological perspective, revealing the impact of spicy tastes on individual moods and discussing how spicy tastes can affect the total factor productivity of firms. Guo et al. [
30] pointed to the strong social network ties that come with a culture of alcohol, which further promotes the growth of the firm. In contrast, our study focuses on the specific impact of tea culture, revealing how it shapes positive values and ethical standards. This expands the current understanding of the dynamic influence of specific food cultures on corporations.
7.2. Conclusions and Implications
The study utilized data from Chinese A-share listed companies from 2010 to 2021 and found that local tea culture significantly promotes CSR engagement. This result holds true even after robustness tests such as endogeneity handling, propensity score matching, variable substitution, and changes in time and space samples. Mechanism testing revealed that female executives serve as an important channel through which tea culture influences CSR. Heterogeneity analysis indicated that the positive impact of tea culture on CSR engagement is more significant in small and medium-sized enterprises as well as state-owned enterprises.
This research expands the existing literature on the economic consequences of tea culture and its antecedents to CSR. It confirms the significant role of tea culture in corporate governance and provides empirical support for the influence of cultural factors on corporate behavior, emphasizing the substantial impact of cultural background on shaping CSR awareness and practices. Furthermore, it validates the unique role of women in the field of CSR, offering a new perspective on gender-diverse management and its relationship with CSR.
Additionally, the study reveals that the positive impact of tea culture is more pronounced in small and medium-sized enterprises and state-owned enterprises, suggesting differences in the absorption and inheritance of cultural influence among different types of businesses. This provides an important reference for corporate culture management and social responsibility practices. From a policy perspective, the research offers insights into advancing sustainable development for businesses. Governments can promote the inheritance and promotion of local tea culture through various means, providing benefits for sustainable business development through the improvement of social norms. Measures can be taken to encourage and support the participation of women in senior management positions within businesses, thus encouraging more women to engage in CSR practices. Addressing the differences in how different types of businesses absorb cultural influences, the government can establish differentiated policies for corporate culture management and social responsibility incentives to assist businesses in pursuing sustainable development.
7.3. Limitations and Future Prospects
We recognize that our study of the relationship between tea culture and CSR has some limitations. First, our tea culture was measured by using local tea production and tea cultivation areas as indicators. While existing studies have validated the soundness of this approach [
21], future research could explore more precise indicators to capture the more micro-level impacts of tea culture.
Second, our study focused exclusively on China, which provides the advantage of controlling for macro-level political systems. However, this also means that our empirical results, which suggest that tea culture promotes CSR, may only be applicable to the Chinese market. Unlike capitalist societies, China has unique national conditions and a unique political system. The Chinese government strongly advocates sustainable economic and social development, which is compatible with the nature of tea culture. In contrast, in a capitalist country, the promotion of tea culture may not be conducive to the vitality of a market economy. Therefore, tea culture may have a non-linear effect on CSR under different political systems. This provides new avenues for future research, such as exploring the cross-regional impact of tea culture under different political systems.
Overall, future research should focus on refining the measure of tea culture and expanding the scope to different political systems to explore cross-regional effects and gain a more comprehensive understanding of the impact of tea culture on the economic consequences of business.