This research attempts to explore the relationship between entrepreneurs’ status perceptions and charitable donations. Based on institutional logic, this study posits that corporate charitable donations are a specific form of non-market strategy initiated by companies, but this behaviour is bound by the constraints of the entrepreneurship and resource limitations of a company. Using large-scale data of 1872 samples from China, this study reveals that entrepreneurs with high status perceptions donate more than those with low status perceptions but that this positive effect of status is attenuated with increases in employee welfare level and symbiotic interdependence, and the triple interaction effect of status perception, symbiotic interdependence and allocation of entrepreneurial effort on charitable donation is significantly established. This research provides an improved understanding of trade off decision behind the charitable donations of private enterprises and practical implications for guiding private enterprises to contribute actively to charity.
