IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/bstrat/v34y2025i2p2239-2272.html

CEO Power and Carbon Emissions Management: Australian Evidence

Author

Listed:
  • Hoa Luong
  • Jayanthi Kumarasiri
  • Abeyratna Gunasekarage

Abstract

We investigate how CEO power contributes to the emissions management of Australian companies. Constructing a CEO power index and employing firm‐level carbon emissions data, we document a significant negative relationship between CEO power and carbon emissions, suggesting that firms with powerful CEOs better manage their carbon emissions. Extending our analyses into different dimensions of power, we find that the CEO power–emissions management relationship mainly comes from structural power and expert power sources. Further analyses show that emissions management plays a significant mediating role in the association between CEO power and firm performance. A survey administered among sustainability managers of large Australian companies reveals corroborative evidence that the leadership of powerful CEOs is an essential element in managing carbon emissions and mitigating the risk associated with climate change. The findings of this study provide insights to policymakers, regulators and corporate top‐management teams regarding an issue that is under severe public scrutiny and social pressure.

Suggested Citation

  • Hoa Luong & Jayanthi Kumarasiri & Abeyratna Gunasekarage, 2025. "CEO Power and Carbon Emissions Management: Australian Evidence," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(2), pages 2239-2272, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:34:y:2025:i:2:p:2239-2272
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.4062
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.4062
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/bse.4062?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jianyun Tang & Mary Crossan & W. Glenn Rowe, 2011. "Dominant CEO, Deviant Strategy, and Extreme Performance: The Moderating Role of a Powerful Board," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(7), pages 1479-1503, November.
    2. Brendan O'Dwyer & Jeffrey Unerman, 2020. "Shifting the focus of sustainability accounting from impacts to risks and dependencies: researching the transformative potential of TCFD reporting," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 33(5), pages 1113-1141, June.
    3. Kin Lee & Baruch Lev & Gillian Yeo, 2008. "Executive pay dispersion, corporate governance, and firm performance," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 30(3), pages 315-338, April.
    4. Feng, Mei & Ge, Weili & Luo, Shuqing & Shevlin, Terry, 2011. "Why do CFOs become involved in material accounting manipulations?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 21-36.
    5. Dennis A. Gioia & Kumar Chittipeddi, 1991. "Sensemaking and sensegiving in strategic change initiation," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(6), pages 433-448, September.
    6. Garnaut,Ross, 2008. "The Garnaut Climate Change Review," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521744447.
    7. Martin, John A. & Butler, Frank C., 2017. "Agent and stewardship behavior: How do they differ?," Journal of Management & Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 23(5), pages 633-646, September.
    8. Larcker, David F. & Rusticus, Tjomme O., 2010. "On the use of instrumental variables in accounting research," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 186-205, April.
    9. Raymond Markey & Joseph McIvor & Martin O’Brien & Chris F Wright, 2021. "Triggering business responses to climate policy in Australia," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 46(2), pages 248-271, May.
    10. repec:eme:aaaj00:aaaj-02-2020-4445 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Judith L. Walls & Pascual Berrone & Phillip H. Phan, 2012. "Corporate governance and environmental performance: is there really a link?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(8), pages 885-913, August.
    12. Rebecca L. Bachmann & Anna Loyeung & Zoltan P. Matolcsy & Helen Spiropoulos, 2020. "Powerful CEOs, cash bonus contracts and firm performance," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(1-2), pages 100-131, January.
    13. Chava, Sudheer & Purnanandam, Amiyatosh, 2010. "CEOs versus CFOs: Incentives and corporate policies," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 263-278, August.
    14. James Heckman, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
    15. Chen, Zhihong & Huang, Yuan & Wei, K. C. John, 2013. "Executive Pay Disparity and the Cost of Equity Capital," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 48(3), pages 849-885, June.
    16. Li, Feng & Minnis, Michael & Nagar, Venky & Rajan, Madhav, 2014. "Knowledge, compensation, and firm value: An empirical analysis of firm communication," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(1), pages 96-116.
    17. Haque, Faizul, 2017. "The effects of board characteristics and sustainable compensation policy on carbon performance of UK firms," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 347-364.
    18. ., 2019. "When fraud examiners fail," Chapters, in: Convenience Triangle in White-Collar Crime, chapter 6, pages 72-85, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    19. Veena Ramani & Bronagh Ward, 2019. "How Board Oversight Can Drive Climate and Sustainability Performance," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 31(2), pages 80-85, June.
    20. Brian K. Boyd, 1995. "CEO duality and firm performance: A contingency model," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(4), pages 301-312.
    21. Diane-Laure Arjaliès & Julia Mundy, 2013. "The use of management control systems to manage CSR strategy: A levers of control perspective," Post-Print hal-00980329, HAL.
    22. Jiraporn, P. & Chintrakarn, P., 2013. "How do powerful CEOs view corporate social responsibility (CSR)? An empirical note," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 119(3), pages 344-347.
    23. Qian, Wei & Schaltegger, Stefan, 2017. "Revisiting carbon disclosure and performance: Legitimacy and management views," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 365-379.
    24. Enrico Bernardini & Johnny Di Giampaolo & Ivan Faiella & Riccardo Poli, 2021. "The impact of carbon risk on stock returns: evidence from the European electric utilities," Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(1), pages 1-26, January.
    25. Renée B. Adams & Heitor Almeida & Daniel Ferreira, 2005. "Powerful CEOs and Their Impact on Corporate Performance," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 18(4), pages 1403-1432.
    26. Andrea Liesen & Frank Figge & Andreas Hoepner & Dennis M. Patten, 2017. "Climate Change and Asset Prices: Are Corporate Carbon Disclosure and Performance Priced Appropriately?," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(1-2), pages 35-62, January.
    27. Reggy Hooghiemstra & Yu Flora Kuang & Bo Qin, 2017. "Does obfuscating excessive CEO pay work? The influence of remuneration report readability on say-on-pay votes," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(6), pages 695-729, September.
    28. Sheikh, Shahbaz, 2018. "The impact of market competition on the relation between CEO power and firm innovation," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 36-50.
    29. Erik Strauß & Christina Zecher, 2013. "Management control systems: a review," Metrika: International Journal for Theoretical and Applied Statistics, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 233-268, February.
    30. Ullah, Irfan & Hameed, Raja Mazhar & Kayani, Nida Zahid & Fazal, Yasir, 2022. "CEO ethical leadership and corporate social responsibility: Examining the mediating role of organizational ethical culture and intellectual capital," Journal of Management & Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 28(1), pages 99-119, January.
    31. Le Luo, 2019. "The influence of institutional contexts on the relationship between voluntary carbon disclosure and carbon emission performance," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 59(2), pages 1235-1264, June.
    32. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2010. "Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262232588, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Saha, Krishnendu & Das, Bijoy Chandra, 2025. "Leading Organisational Sustainability: The Impact of CEO Optimism on Organisational Decarbonisation," CAFE Working Papers 37, Centre for Accountancy, Finance and Economics (CAFE), Birmingham City Business School, Birmingham City University.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gunasekarage, Abeyratna & Luong, Hoa & Truong, Thanh Tan, 2020. "Growth and market share matrix, CEO power, and firm performance," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    2. Sheikh, Shahbaz, 2018. "CEO power, product market competition and firm value," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 373-386.
    3. Dewan Muktadir‐Al‐Mukit & Firoz Haroon Bhaiyat, 2024. "Impact of corporate governance diversity on carbon emission under environmental policy via the mandatory nonfinancial reporting regulation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 1397-1417, February.
    4. Chowdhury, Md Raihan Uddin & Xie, Feixue & Hasan, Md Mahmudul, 2023. "Powerful CEOs and investment efficiency," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    5. Provaty, Sagira Sultana & Hasan, Mostafa Monzur & Luo, Le, 2024. "Organization capital and GHG emissions," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    6. Jesper Haga & Fredrik Huhtamäki & Dennis Sundvik, 2022. "Ruthless Exploiters or Ethical Guardians of the Workforce? Powerful CEOs and their Impact on Workplace Safety and Health," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 177(3), pages 641-663, May.
    7. Kannan-Narasimhan, Rangapriya (Priya) & Wang, Ruixiang & Zhu, Pengcheng, 2023. "Founder versus agent CEOs: Effects of founder status and power on firm innovation and cost of capital," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    8. Le Luo & Qingliang Tang, 2022. "National culture and corporate carbon performance," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 47(3), pages 503-538, August.
    9. Sheikh, Shahbaz, 2022. "CEO power and the likelihood of paying dividends: Effect of profitability and cash flow volatility," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    10. Kwon, Shin Hyoung & Kim, Joongseo & Yim, Hyunsoon (Sean), 2023. "Looking far or close: The explanatory role of myopic management in the relationship between CEO-TMT power disparity and corporate social responsibility," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    11. Le Luo & Qingliang Tang, 2021. "Corporate governance and carbon performance: role of carbon strategy and awareness of climate risk," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(2), pages 2891-2934, June.
    12. Rong He & Le Luo & Abul Shamsuddin & Qingliang Tang, 2022. "Corporate carbon accounting: a literature review of carbon accounting research from the Kyoto Protocol to the Paris Agreement," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(1), pages 261-298, March.
    13. Kuzey, Cemil & Fritz, Morgane M.C. & Uyar, Ali & Karaman, Abdullah S., 2022. "Board gender diversity, CSR strategy, and eco-friendly initiatives in the transportation and logistics sector," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 247(C).
    14. Florackis, Chris & Sainani, Sushil, 2021. "Can CFOs resist undue pressure from CEOs to manage earnings?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    15. Choi, Bobae & Luo, Le, 2021. "Does the market value greenhouse gas emissions? Evidence from multi-country firm data," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(1).
    16. Florackis, Chris & Sainani, Sushil, 2018. "How do chief financial officers influence corporate cash policies?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 168-191.
    17. Jibriel Elsayih & Rina Datt & Qingliang Tang & Ali Hamid & Maria Estela Varua, 2023. "Exploring the determinants of carbon management system quality: The role of corporate governance and climate risks and opportunities," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(4), pages 4065-4091, December.
    18. Sudipta Bose & Habib Zaman Khan & Reza M. Monem, 2021. "Does green banking performance pay off? Evidence from a unique regulatory setting in Bangladesh," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 162-187, March.
    19. Wei Shi & Brian L. Connelly, 2018. "Is regulatory adoption ceremonial? Evidence from lead director appointments," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(8), pages 2386-2413, August.
    20. Sheikh, Shahbaz, 2018. "The impact of market competition on the relation between CEO power and firm innovation," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 36-50.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:34:y:2025:i:2:p:2239-2272. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-0836 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.