IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecmode/v94y2021icp121-129.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How do powerful CEOs influence corporate environmental performance?

Author

Listed:
  • Francoeur, Claude
  • Lakhal, Faten
  • Gaaya, Safa
  • Ben Saad, Itidel

Abstract

This study investigates how powerful chief executive officers (CEOs) affect their firm’s environmental performance. Based on a sample of 5222 U.S. firm–year observations, we find that such CEOs positively influence environmental performance and that this effect is more prevalent in profitable firms. This result suggests that powerful CEOs are influential in creating sufficient resources to enhance their firms’ environmental performance. They are also typically well established and enjoy the quiet life that predisposes them to prioritize environmental projects. Our results also show that, although firms in polluted industries have lower environmental performance, they are able to mitigate this negative effect when they have powerful CEOs or are more profitable. Our results are robust to a variety of econometric models, alternative measures of environmental performance, and controlling for endogeneity issues.

Suggested Citation

  • Francoeur, Claude & Lakhal, Faten & Gaaya, Safa & Ben Saad, Itidel, 2021. "How do powerful CEOs influence corporate environmental performance?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 121-129.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecmode:v:94:y:2021:i:c:p:121-129
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econmod.2020.09.024
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264999320312086
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.econmod.2020.09.024?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sandra A. Waddock & Samuel B. Graves, 1997. "The Corporate Social Performance–Financial Performance Link," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(4), pages 303-319, April.
    2. Baldenius, Tim & Melumad, Nahum & Meng, Xiaojing, 2014. "Board composition and CEO power," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(1), pages 53-68.
    3. Marion Dupire & Bouchra M’Zali, 2018. "CSR Strategies in Response to Competitive Pressures," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(3), pages 603-623, March.
    4. Marianne Bertrand & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2003. "Enjoying the Quiet Life? Corporate Governance and Managerial Preferences," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 111(5), pages 1043-1075, October.
    5. Bebchuk, Lucian A. & Cohen, Alma, 2005. "The costs of entrenched boards," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(2), pages 409-433, November.
    6. Jin, Jingliang & Zhou, Dequn & Zhou, Peng, 2014. "Measuring environmental performance with stochastic environmental DEA: The case of APEC economies," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 80-86.
    7. Judith L. Walls & Pascual Berrone, 2017. "The Power of One to Make a Difference: How Informal and Formal CEO Power Affect Environmental Sustainability," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 145(2), pages 293-308, October.
    8. Banerjee, Rajabrata & Gupta, Kartick, 2019. "The effect of environmentally sustainable practices on firm R&D: International evidence," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 262-274.
    9. Correa, Ricardo & Lel, Ugur, 2016. "Say on pay laws, executive compensation, pay slice, and firm valuation around the world," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(3), pages 500-520.
    10. Song, Wei-Ling & Wan, Kam-Ming, 2019. "Does CEO compensation reflect managerial ability or managerial power? Evidence from the compensation of powerful CEOs," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 1-14.
    11. Basil Al-Najjar & Rong Ding & Khaled Hussainey, 2016. "Determinants and value relevance of UK CEO pay slice," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(3), pages 403-421, May.
    12. Bebchuk, Lucian A. & Cremers, K.J. Martijn & Peyer, Urs C., 2011. "The CEO pay slice," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(1), pages 199-221, October.
    13. Jo Thori Lind & Halvor Mehlum, 2010. "With or Without U? The Appropriate Test for a U‐Shaped Relationship," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 72(1), pages 109-118, February.
    14. Hoje Jo & Maretno Harjoto, 2012. "The Causal Effect of Corporate Governance on Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 106(1), pages 53-72, March.
    15. Giovanni Cespa & Giacinta Cestone, 2007. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Managerial Entrenchment," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(3), pages 741-771, September.
    16. Frank Li & Tao Li & Dylan Minor, 2016. "CEO power, corporate social responsibility, and firm value: a test of agency theory," International Journal of Managerial Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 12(5), pages 611-628, October.
    17. Renée B. Adams & Heitor Almeida & Daniel Ferreira, 2005. "Powerful CEOs and Their Impact on Corporate Performance," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 18(4), pages 1403-1432.
    18. Vivek Mande & Myungsoo Son, 2012. "CEO Centrality and Meeting or Beating Analysts’ Earnings Forecasts," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(1-2), pages 82-112, January.
    19. Mario Testa & Antonio D’Amato, 2017. "Corporate environmental responsibility and financial performance: does bidirectional causality work? Empirical evidence from the manufacturing industry," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 13(2), pages 221-234, June.
    20. Seonghee Han & Vikram K. Nanda & Sabatino (Dino) Silveri, 2016. "CEO Power and Firm Performance under Pressure," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 45(2), pages 369-400, May.
    21. Guo, Mengmeng & Kuai, Yicheng & Liu, Xiaoyan, 2020. "Stock market response to environmental policies: Evidence from heavily polluting firms in China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 306-316.
    22. Pornsit Jiraporn & Yixin Liu & Young S. Kim, 2014. "How Do Powerful CEOs Affect Analyst Coverage?," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 20(3), pages 652-676, June.
    23. James Cordeiro & Manish Tewari, 2015. "Firm Characteristics, Industry Context, and Investor Reactions to Environmental CSR: A Stakeholder Theory Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 130(4), pages 833-849, September.
    24. Katalin Takacs Haynes & Amy Hillman, 2010. "The effect of board capital and CEO power on strategic change," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(11), pages 1145-1163, November.
    25. John R. Graham & Si Li & Jiaping Qiu, 2012. "Managerial Attributes and Executive Compensation," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 25(1), pages 144-186.
    26. Armstrong, Christopher S. & Balakrishnan, Karthik & Cohen, Daniel, 2012. "Corporate governance and the information environment: Evidence from state antitakeover laws," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 185-204.
    27. Tiago Melo, 2012. "Slack‐resources hypothesis: a critical analysis under a multidimensional approach to corporate social performance," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 8(2), pages 257-269, June.
    28. Claude Francoeur & Andrea Melis & Silvia Gaia & Simone Aresu, 2017. "Green or Greed? An Alternative Look at CEO Compensation and Corporate Environmental Commitment," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 140(3), pages 439-453, February.
    29. 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.
    30. Shen, Chung-Hua & Wu, Meng-Wen & Chen, Ting-Hsuan & Fang, Hao, 2016. "To engage or not to engage in corporate social responsibility: Empirical evidence from global banking sector," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 207-225.
    31. David A. Waldman & Donald S. Siegel & Mansour Javidan, 2006. "Components of CEO Transformational Leadership and Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(8), pages 1703-1725, December.
    32. Amzaleg, Yaron & Azar, Ofer H. & Ben-Zion, Uri & Rosenfeld, Ahron, 2014. "CEO control, corporate performance and pay-performance sensitivity," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 166-174.
    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. Jana Hojnik & Viktor Prokop & Jan Stejskal, 2022. "R&D as bridge to sustainable development? Case of Czech Republic and Slovenia," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(1), pages 146-160, January.
    2. Hoang, Thi Hong Van & Pham, Linh & Nguyen, Thanh Thi Phuong, 2023. "Does country sustainability improve firm ESG reporting transparency? The moderating role of firm industry and CSR engagement," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    3. Jiang, Li & Bai, Yu, 2022. "Strategic or substantive innovation? -The impact of institutional investors' site visits on green innovation evidence from China," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    4. Libin Han & Chong Peng, 2022. "Do the Age and Gender of Chairperson Affect Firms’ Environmental Protection Investment?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-12, November.
    5. Benkraiem, Ramzi & Shuwaikh, Fatima & Lakhal, Faten & Guizani, Assil, 2022. "Carbon performance and firm value of the World's most sustainable companies," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    6. Khwaja Naveed & Fahad Khalid & Cosmina L. Voinea & Nadine Roijakkers & Cosmin Fratostiteanu, 2023. "Board gender diversity and corporate environmental commitment: A subnational perspective," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(7), pages 4970-4990, November.
    7. Vinay Khandelwal & Prasoon Tripathi & Varun Chotia & Mohit Srivastava & Prashant Sharma & Sushil Kalyani, 2023. "Examining the Impact of Agency Issues on Corporate Performance: A Bibliometric Analysis," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-22, November.
    8. Huang, Ruilei & Wei, Jiuchang, 2023. "Does CEOs’ green experience affect environmental corporate social responsibility? Evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 205-231.

    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. Claude Francoeur & Faten Lakhal & Safa Gaaya & Itidel Ben Saad, 2021. "How do powerful CEOs influence corporate environmental performance?," Post-Print hal-02976839, HAL.
    2. Farman Ullah Khan & Vanina Adoriana Trifan & Mioara Florina Pantea & Junrui Zhang & Muhammad Nouman, 2022. "Internal Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility: Evidence from Chinese Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-20, February.
    3. 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.
    4. Vijaya Subrahmanyam & Manohar Singh & Anita Pennathur, 2020. "CEO characteristics, firm performance, and corporate political contributions: A firm level pre‐Citizens United analysis," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 38(2), pages 379-404, April.
    5. Al Mamun, Md & Balachandran, Balasingham & Duong, Huu Nhan, 2020. "Powerful CEOs and stock price crash risk," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    6. Pornsit Jiraporn & Yixin Liu & Young S. Kim, 2014. "How Do Powerful CEOs Affect Analyst Coverage?," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 20(3), pages 652-676, June.
    7. Anutchanat Jaroenjitrkam & Chia‐Feng (Jeffrey) Yu & Ralf Zurbruegg, 2020. "Does market power discipline CEO power? An agency perspective," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 26(3), pages 724-752, June.
    8. Jiexiang Huang & Helen Roberts & Eric K. M. Tan, 2022. "The media and CEO dominance," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 22(1), pages 5-35, March.
    9. María Consuelo Pucheta-Martínez & Isabel Gallego-Álvarez, 2021. "The Role of CEO Power on CSR Reporting: The Moderating Effect of Linking CEO Compensation to Shareholder Return," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-19, March.
    10. Chiu, Sana (Shih-chi) & Hoskisson, Robert E. & Tony Kong, Dejun & Li, Andrew & Shao, Ping, 2023. "Predicting primary and secondary stakeholder engagement: A CEO motivation-means contingency model," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    11. Jeong, Nara & Kim, Nari & Arthurs, Jonathan D., 2021. "The CEO’s tenure life cycle, corporate social responsibility and the moderating role of the CEO’s political orientation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 464-474.
    12. Shahid Ali & Junrui Zhang & Muhammad Usman & Muhammad Kaleem Khan & Farman Ullah Khan & Muhammad Abubakkar Siddique, 2020. "Do tournament incentives motivate chief executive officers to be socially responsible?," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 35(5), pages 597-619, February.
    13. Boubaker, Sabri & Chebbi, Kaouther & Grira, Jocelyn, 2020. "Top management inside debt and corporate social responsibility? Evidence from the US," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 98-115.
    14. Lutfa Tilat Ferdous & Kamran Ahmed & Darren Henry, 2023. "An Empirical Investigation of the Effect of CFO Power on Disclosure Quality," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 59(2), pages 606-649, June.
    15. Gounopoulos, Dimitrios & Pham, Hang, 2018. "Specialist CEOs and IPO survival," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 217-243.
    16. Mark Humphery‐Jenner & Emdad Islam & Lubna Rahman & Jo‐Ann Suchard, 2022. "Powerful CEOs and Corporate Governance," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(1), pages 135-188, March.
    17. Bryan Hong & Zhichuan Li & Dylan Minor, 2016. "Corporate Governance and Executive Compensation for Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 136(1), pages 199-213, June.
    18. Penghua Qiao & Anna Fung & Jianchun Miao & Hung†Gay Fung, 2017. "Powerful Chief Executive Officers and Firm Performance: Integrating Agency and Stewardship Theory," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 25(6), pages 100-119, November.
    19. E. Han Kim & Yao Lu, 2018. "Executive Suite Independence: Is It Related to Board Independence?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(3), pages 1015-1033, March.
    20. Ruixi Long & Shuyang Jia, 2023. "Foreground or background my social responsibility: impact of the trade war on the readability of corporate social responsibility disclosures," Information Technology and Management, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 79-97, March.

    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:eee:ecmode:v:94:y:2021:i:c:p:121-129. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/30411 .

    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.