Confucianism and corporate fraud

Abstract

Purpose

Confucianism underpins Chinese traditional culture and the values of the Chinese people. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between adherence to Confucianism and corporate irregularities.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use the historical numbers of Jinshi (Imperial Scholars) in the Ming and Qing dynasties within 200 km of a company's location to proxy for the influence of Confucianism on the company, presenting strong evidence that Confucianism significantly reduces corporate irregularities.

Findings

The authors' findings are robust even when criticized with alternative definitions of Confucianism, sensitivity analysis and instrumental variable regression. The authors also discover that this effect is weaker in state-owned and foreign enterprises and weakened by the influence of Western culture.

Originality/value

This paper brings a new traditional-cultural perspective to the understanding of corporate irregularities and contributes to the literature on culture and finance. This paper also helps the authors understand the “China Puzzle” that is China's rapid economic development under an imperfect legal system.

Citation

Tang, X., Gu, Y., Weng, R. and Ho, K. (2022), "Confucianism and corporate fraud", International Journal of Emerging Markets, Vol. 17 No. 6, pp. 1425-1445. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOEM-12-2019-1004