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Exploitative leadership as a form of destructive leadership may hinder employees' knowledge sharing. However, how and when exploitative leadership impacts employees' knowledge sharing is under explored. Drawing on fairness heuristic theory, this study aims to construct a moderated mediation model to investigate the impacting mechanisms of exploitative leadership on employees' knowledge sharing by introducing organization-based self-esteem as a mediator and perceived organizational procedural justice as a moderator.

To test the research model, data were collected from 148 full-time employees at two-time points and analyzed using partial least square-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM).

Exploitative leadership has a direct negative impact on knowledge sharing. Through the mediation of organization-based self-esteem, exploitative leadership has an indirect impact on knowledge sharing. Organizational procedural justice can weaken the indirect negative relationship between exploitative leadership and knowledge sharing via organization-based self-esteem.

This study is the first to introduce fairness heuristic theory to explain the relationship between exploitative leadership and knowledge sharing. Findings about the mediating role of organizational self-esteem and the moderating role of organizational procedural justice in the relationship between exploitative leadership and knowledge sharing can uncover the black box of how exploitative leadership affects knowledge sharing.