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Understanding corporate surplus food donation in China: testing the roles of environmental concern, altruism, past experience, and perceived risk

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Abstract

This paper investigates the motives behind corporate giving and determines whether perceived risk plays a major role in corporate surplus food donation intention. A conceptual model is developed from the perspectives of perceived risk, economic concern, past behavior, and moral motives. A questionnaire survey is conducted among food manufacturers and retailers in the Sichuan Province in China. A total of 143 valid observations are used to conduct structural equation modeling analysis. The results show that corporate reputation, legislation, and business risks are the main sub dimensions of risks that corporations perceive. Perceived risk, past behavior, environmental concern, and altruism affect corporate donation intention significantly. Implications of the findings for promoting surplus food donation are also discussed.

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Notes

  1. The Global FoodBanking Network Annual Report 2018. Available at: https://www.foodbanking.org/2018annualreport/ (Accessed on 2019-02-10)

  2. The Global FoodBanking Network, The Global FoodBanking Network Welcomes its First Member from Mainland China, available at: https://www.foodbanking.org/the-global-foodbanking-network-welcomes-its-first-member-from-mainland-china/ .(Accessed on 2019–0215)

  3. China food industry association, The Statistical Yearbook of the Food Industry (2016), China statistic Press, Beijing, 2016.

  4. Weijia Liu, Sichuan, is still one of the six key areas for supporting the poor, and it is difficult to elevate people from poverty. The people’s government of Sichuan Province (in Chinese). Available at: http://www.sc.gov.cn/10462/10464/13298/13302/2016/8/24/10393370.shtml (Accessed on 2018-03-23)

  5. Guangzhou Municipal People’s Government. Management of the near shelf life and over expired food of Guangzhou City [GZ141]. Available at: http://www.gz.gov.cn/GZ36/2.2/201607/16bff10056574e3c98249eb1e7e1e446.shtml (in Chinese, Accessed on 2018-01-23).

  6. Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act, 1996. Conversion to permanent law of Model Good Samaritan Food Donation Act and Transfer of that Act to Child Nutrition Act of 1966, Public law 104–210/1996, 110 STAT. 3011 (<www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/1791>. (Accessed 01.02.18].

  7. Ministry of Finance, State Administration of Taxation, Ministry of Civil Affair, Notice on issues related to pre-tax deduction of public interest donations, [2008]160 (in Chinese). Available at: http://www.chinatax.gov.cn/n810341/n810765/n812166/n812657/c1190134/content.html (Accessed on 2018-03-25)

  8. Ministry of Finance, State Administration of Taxation, Ministry of Civil Affair, Notice on the policy of public welfare donation and the pre tax deduction of corporate income tax, [2018]15 (in Chinese). Available at: http://www.chinatax.gov.cn//n810341/n810755/c3305102/content.html (Accessed on 2018-03-25).

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to express their gratitude to the survey respondents who gave usable answers and for the valuable comments of the anonymous reviewers.

Funding

This work was supported by Annual Project of Soft Science of Sichuan Province (Grant18RKX0993).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Economics and Management, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, 621010, China

    Chuanhui Liao

  2. School of Management, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China

    Chuanhui Liao, Jin Hong & Dingtao Zhao

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  1. Chuanhui Liao
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  2. Jin Hong
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Correspondence to Jin Hong.

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Liao, C., Hong, J. & Zhao, D. Understanding corporate surplus food donation in China: testing the roles of environmental concern, altruism, past experience, and perceived risk. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26, 16628–16640 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-05058-5

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