Agricultural origins of corporate pro-environmental behavior

The cultural differences caused by rice cultivation between the north and south of China provide a unique perspective to study the local effect on corporate pro-environmental behavior. In this paper, we investigate the relationship between the geographical distribution of agricultural planting and corporate pro-environmental behavior. We manually collected the city-level rice planting data and used A-share listed companies' data from 2010 to 2019 in China and found that rice culture in the external environment in which the company embedded has a positive association with the corporate reactive pro-environmental behavior, while rice culture in the internal values which CEO provided with is positively related to the corporate proactive pro environmental behavior. Moreover, we find that environmental policy and migration are two moderators through which rice culture affects corporate pro-environmental behavior. This study not only sheds light on the agricultural drivers behind corporate pro-environmental behavior and extends the theoretical understanding how cultural differences caused by geographical factors within countries influence corporate decisions but also helps firms, managers, and stakeholders effectively conduct self-reflection, management, and supervision on environmental issues through farming cultural dimensions.