Impact of public welfare donation on performance.

This study utilizes data from A-share listed companies between 2011 and 2020 to empirically investigate the impact and mechanism of public welfare donations on the internal income gap of enterprises. The research findings indicate that public welfare donations significantly increase the per capita salary of management, while their impact on the per capita salary of ordinary employees is not significant, thus leading to an expansion of the internal income gap within enterprises. The results from mechanism testing reveal that the income tax benefits resulting from charitable donations and the rise in corporate operating income have contributed to an increase in excess rent shared by enterprises and employees. Due to a stronger bargaining power, management shares more excess rents, thereby widening the income gap within the enterprise. Heterogeneity analysis demonstrates that public welfare donations have a greater impact on the internal income gap of non-state-owned enterprises; however, limiting executive compensation and enhancing employees’ bargaining power can mitigate this widening effect caused by public welfare donations on enterprise’s internal income gap. The research value of this study is threefold. Firstly, there is a scarcity of studies on the impact of public welfare donations on the income gap within enterprises, and this study contributes to enriching the research in this area. Secondly, this paper examines the effect of tax incentives for public welfare donations on the internal income gap of enterprises, thereby deepening the research on the impact of tax reduction and fee reduction, as well as expanding our understanding of corporate income tax preferential policies. Thirdly, it offers insights into improving enterprise compensation systems and enhancing corporate governance. Senior executives can potentially allocate more excess rent through their strong bargaining power. If their compensation remains unrestricted, it may lead to a widening internal income gap and negatively affect company operational efficiency.

本研究选取2011至2020年A股上市公司（A-share listed companies）数据，实证考察公益捐赠（public welfare donations）对企业内部收入差距的影响及其作用机制。研究结果表明，公益捐赠显著提升了管理层人均薪酬，但对普通员工人均薪酬的影响并不显著，进而扩大了企业内部收入差距。机制检验结果显示，公益捐赠带来的所得税优惠（income tax benefits）与企业营业收入增长，推动了企业与员工共享的超额租金（excess rent）提升；由于管理层议价能力更强，其分得的超额租金更多，最终拉大了企业内部收入差距。异质性分析（Heterogeneity analysis）显示，公益捐赠对非国有企业（non-state-owned enterprises）内部收入差距的影响更为显著；而限制高管薪酬（executive compensation）、提升员工议价能力，能够缓解公益捐赠对企业内部收入差距的扩大效应。本研究的学术价值主要体现在三方面：其一，当前关于公益捐赠对企业内部收入差距影响的研究较为匮乏，本研究丰富了该领域的研究成果；其二，本文探讨了公益捐赠的税收激励（tax incentives）对企业内部收入差距的作用效果，深化了对减税降费（tax reduction and fee reduction）的影响研究，拓展了对企业所得税优惠政策（corporate income tax preferential policies）的认知；其三，本研究为完善企业薪酬体系、优化公司治理（corporate governance）提供了有益参考。高管可凭借较强的议价能力攫取更多超额租金，若不对其薪酬加以限制，可能会加剧企业内部收入差距，对公司运营效率产生负面影响。