Abstract
This study explores the relationships among the leader’s ethical spirit, leader’s social responsibility, internal corporate governance mechanisms (ICGMs), and shareholder rights in the Taiwanese export industry from the viewpoint of stakeholders. It takes in to account of Laozi’s Daodejing (DDJ) for Daoism philosophy in order to create the criteria on ethical spirit and social responsibility for Taiwanese leader. After reviewing OECD principles for corporate governance and Taiwanese company laws on ICGMs and shareholder rights, a conceptual framework is established based on hypotheses relating to possible influential factors. An empirical study was conducted among 265 stakeholders in the Taiwanese export industry. The results show that the leader’s ethical spirit has positive effects on his social responsibility and on ICGMs, but has an indirect effect on shareholder rights. The leader’s social responsibility has a positive influence on ICGMs. Moreover, social responsibility and ICGMs play a significant role in shareholder rights.