Putting a price on mission: Social responsibility orientation and startup employment

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Kim, J. Daniel; Lee, Matthew
• 署名单位: University of Pennsylvania; Harvard University
• 刊物名称: STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT JOURNAL
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0143-2095
• DOI: 10.1002/smj.70107
• 发表日期: 2026
• 关键词: performance; attractiveness; preferences; strategies; pay

摘要

Research Summary Social responsibility-oriented (SRO) employers are widely understood to enjoy advantages in recruitment and hiring, yet most evidence comes from temporary or hypothetical employment contexts. We test for such advantages using microdata on a structured recruitment process in which startups hired full-time employees. We find that SRO employers attract greater initial interest, especially among female candidates, and are more likely to have their job offers accepted. Among candidates with multiple offers, we estimate that they are willing to forgo 13%-18.5% of annual salary for SRO employment. However, employees hired by SRO employers exhibit neither greater retention nor higher job satisfaction. These findings validate the appeal of SRO employers in a full-time recruitment setting and document the boundary between substantial pre-hiring advantages and limited post-hiring effects.Managerial Summary Employers that claim to have a positive social impact are widely believed to enjoy advantages in attracting employees, yet most evidence comes from temporary or experimental settings. We study whether these advantages hold in consequential, full-time hiring decisions using data from a structured recruitment process in which startups hired recent college graduates. Candidates are significantly more likely to express interest in and accept offers from mission-driven employers and are willing to forgo 13%-18.5% of annual salary to do so. This recruiting advantage is driven largely by female candidates at the initial attraction stage. However, mission-driven employers show no advantage in retaining employees or in employee job satisfaction, suggesting that advantages may be concentrated at the front end of the employment relationship.