This study explores how a firm’s performance feedback (relative to its aspirations) may influence its likelihood of involvement in misconduct. We propose and test curvilinear relationships between aspired performance and corporate misconduct by drawing upon the behavioral theory of the firm. We argue that a U-shaped relationship may exist between aspired performance and corporate misconduct when performance feedback is positive (i.e., performance is above aspirations), in that high performance firstly decreases and then increases the likelihood of misconduct. On the contrary, we propose an inverse U-shaped relationship between aspired performance and corporate misconduct when performance feedback is negative (i.e., performance is below aspirations), in that low performance firstly increases and then decreases the likelihood of misconduct. Evidence from Chinese publicly-listed manufacturers largely supports our predictions.

这项研究探讨了公司的绩效反馈（相对于其期望）如何影响其参与不当行为的可能性。我们根据企业的行为理论，提出并测试了有抱负的绩效与公司不当行为之间的曲线关系。我们认为，当绩效反馈为正（即绩效高于期望）时，有抱负的绩效与公司不当行为之间可能存在U型关系，因为高绩效首先会降低，然后会增加不当行为的可能性。相反，当绩效反馈为负（即绩效低于期望）时，我们提出有抱负的绩效与公司不当行为之间呈倒U型关系，因为低绩效首先会增加然后降低不当行为的可能性。