Executives born along Long March route show reduced earnings management after commemorations

Executives at Chinese listed companies who were born in regions along the route of the Long March tend to engage in less earnings management, according to a study published in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. The researchers, Wenli Xia, Hongliang Zhang and Jie Niu, examined whether the Long March, a significant cultural symbol in modern Chinese history, leaves a measurable imprint on micro-level corporate financial behavior, a question they note has remained underexplored. To test this, the authors exploited the 80th anniversary commemoration of the Long March victory as an exogenous shock, constructing a natural experiment rather than relying on simple correlations.

Their dataset covered Chinese A-share listed firms from 2010 to 2021, and they used a difference-in-differences approach to compare firms whose executives were born along the Long March route with other firms before and after the commemoration. The findings indicate that, from 2016 onward, firms led by executives born in regions along the Long March route exhibited a significant reduction in earnings management. The authors interpret this as evidence that the Long March imprint suppresses earnings manipulation behavior, with the effect emerging after the anniversary commemorations.

Further analysis pointed to two channels through which the Long March spirit curbs earnings management: the cultivation of corporate culture within firms and the restraint of managerial self-interest. The cultural memory appears to operate both at the organizational level, shaping shared norms, and at the individual level, tempering executives' pursuit of personal gain. The study also documented heterogeneous effects, meaning the strength of the association varied across conditions.

The researchers identified differences related to external cultural shocks, market attention, government-market relations, and executives' educational attainment, suggesting that the imprint's influence is not uniform across firms or institutional environments. By introducing cultural memory into the analytical framework of executive decision-making, the authors argue that the study offers a novel perspective on the cultural determinants of corporate earnings management. The work connects a historical event in modern Chinese history to contemporary corporate governance outcomes, framing collective cultural symbols as potential influences on how executives report financial performance.

The study focuses on Chinese A-share listed firms over the 2010 to 2021 period, and the reported effects concern earnings management as measured in the research, rather than broader claims about executive ethics. The article was published on 24 October 2026 and is being shared early as peer-reviewed, accepted research, with a final version of record to follow.

Subject of Research: How executives' Long March cultural imprint influences earnings management in Chinese listed firms

Article Title: Dialectical reflections on collectivism: Does the Long March Imprint of executives influence financial decisions?—Empirical evidence from China

Article References: Xia, W., Zhang, H., & Niu, J. (2026). Dialectical reflections on collectivism: Does the Long March Imprint of executives influence financial decisions?—Empirical evidence from China. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-026-09511-y

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1057/s41599-026-09511-y

Keywords: Long March, imprinting theory, earnings management, corporate governance, Chinese listed firms, difference-in-differences, corporate culture, executive behavior, natural experiment, cultural memory, Dialectical, reflections