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The Relationship between CFO Compensation and Corporate Sustainability: An Empirical Examination of German Listed Firms

Author

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  • Mirko Profitlich

    (Institute of Management, Accounting and Finance, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Universitätsallee 1, 21335 Lüneburg, Germany)

  • Yassin Denis Bouzzine

    (Institute of Management, Accounting and Finance, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Universitätsallee 1, 21335 Lüneburg, Germany)

  • Rainer Lueg

    (Institute of Management, Accounting and Finance, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Universitätsallee 1, 21335 Lüneburg, Germany
    Department of Business and Economics, University of Southern Denmark, Universitetsparken 1, 6000 Kolding, Denmark)

Abstract

In this paper, we analyze the relationship between Chief Financial Officer (CFO) compensation and Corporate Sustainability (CS) by relying on stakeholder-agent theory and institutional theory. Taking a closer look at the German DAX30 and MDAX firms for the business years 2014–2018 (313 firm-year observations), we perform regression and correlation analyses to determine if the different CFO compensation components are related to CS. Our analyses use the environmental, social, governance (ESG) performance as a proxy for CS, determined by the Asset Four database of Thomson Reuters and the CFO compensation data from the Beck et al. (2020) database, and reveal a positive relationship between CS and CFO compensation for pension and stock compensation. Based on our knowledge, this study is the first empirical study that takes a closer look at the relationship between the different CFO compensation components and CS for the German DAX30 and MDAX firms. This result comes with important implications concerning the design of CFO compensation and for future research.

Suggested Citation

  • Mirko Profitlich & Yassin Denis Bouzzine & Rainer Lueg, 2021. "The Relationship between CFO Compensation and Corporate Sustainability: An Empirical Examination of German Listed Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-17, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:21:p:12299-:d:674085
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Rainer Lueg, 2022. "Constructs for Assessing Integrated Reports—Testing the Predictive Validity of a Taxonomy for Organization Size, Industry, and Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-13, June.
    2. Andrzej Piosik, 2021. "Revenue Identification in Attaining Consensus Estimates on Income Predictions: The Function of Ownership Concentration and Managerial Ownership Confirmation from Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-16, December.
    3. Fabio Korinth & Rainer Lueg, 2022. "Corporate Sustainability and Risk Management—The U-Shaped Relationships of Disaggregated ESG Rating Scores and Risk in the German Capital Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-15, May.
    4. Mengyao Xia & Bangzhu Zhu & Helen Huifen Cai, 2023. "Does duration of team governance decrease corporate carbon emission intensity," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(3), pages 1363-1388, May.

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