Corporate Purpose in Public and Private Firms

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Gartenberg, Claudine; Serafeim, George
• 署名单位: University of Pennsylvania; Harvard University
• 刊物名称: MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0025-1909
• DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2022.4618
• 发表日期: 2023
• 页码: 5087-5111
• 关键词: corporate purpose; corporate ownership; long-term investment

摘要

Analyzing data from approximately 1.5 million employees across 1,108 established public and private U.S. companies, we find that the strength of employee beliefs related to purpose is weaker in public companies. Among public companies, those beliefs are stronger for firms with more committed owners. These patterns are most pronounced within the salaried middle and hourly ranks rather than senior executives. Differences across firms can be attributed, in part, to differences in leadership and incentive characteristics. Our findings are consistent with higher owner commitment and the corresponding policies that arise alongside this higher commitment, enabling a stronger sense of purpose inside organizations.