Can Local Confucian Culture Promote the Social Performance of Social Enterprises?——A Study Based on a Special Survey of Social Enterprises in China
Social enterprises (SEs) are new types of organisations that adopt commercial means to solve complex social problems.An investigation into the factors affecting their social performance can enhance the positive role of SEs in social governance in the new era.Confucian culture has an implicit influence on the development of local social enterprises.However,few existing studies have explored the relationship between Confucian culture and social enterprises in China,or the mechanisms and boundary conditions underlying this relationship.Based on institutional theory,it systematically investigated the impact of Confucian culture on the social performance enhancement of social enterprises in China and the organizational boundary conditions of this impact,by constructing historical cross-sectional data through the number of successful candidates in the Qing Dynasty's imperial examinations at the provincial level and matching it with the contemporary special survey data of social enterprises in China.The empirical analysis reveals the positive influence of local Confucian culture on the social performance of social enterprises in China.Meanwhile,this effect is more pronounced in social enterprises with a larger geographical service scope and fewer organizational resource endowments.The research conclusion provides a theoretical basis for exploring the internal driving force of traditional culture in the development of social enterprises in China.
social enterprisesocial entrepreneurshipconfucianism