Corporate Philanthropic Disaster Response and Ownership Type: Evidence from Chinese Firms' Response to the Sichuan Earthquake

This article examines whether the charitable giving amount and likelihood of firm response to catastrophic events relate to firms' ownership type using a unique dataset of listed firms in China, where state ownership is still prevalent. Based on the data of Chinese firms' response to the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, we find that the extent of corporate contributions for state-owned firms following this disaster is less than that for private firms. State-owned firms are also less likely to respond in this disaster compared to private firms. The results also reveal that firm size, profitability, geography, cash resource available, and leverage affect firms' philanthropic disaster response behavior in China.