Still, it might seem unlikely that spiritual traditions could influence something as technical as corporate dividend policy. In modern capitalism, dividends are not mandatory; they are a voluntary decision made by a firm’s leadership to return value to its owners. We found that firms in more religious regions scored higher on measures of corporate social responsibility. In China, capitalism took root under very different cultural auspices. Our findings add to this narrative by highlighting Buddhism and Taoism as part of the mix that shapes Chinese corporate behaviour.