Anchored by social identity theory, we investigate the impact of immigrant CEOs’ cultural distance on firms’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate social irresponsibility (CSI). We postulate that an immigrant CEO will perceive the liabilities of outsiderness resulting from the cultural distance between his or her country of origin and the country he or she currently resides. To strengthen this social identity, the immigrant CEO from a culturally remote country will show more CSR while avoid CSI than another immigrant CEO from a culturally proximate country. We furthermore examine two contingencies that may alter this effect, including CEO racial minority status and firm reputation. Results based on a sample of U.S. firms led by immigrant CEOs support our hypotheses.
