IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0317903.html

Do CEOs with government work experience foster enterprise investment in pollution control?

Author

Listed:
  • Mixiang Peng
  • Dayuan Li
  • Chaolin Zhang

Abstract

As enterprise leaders, CEOs play a critical role in driving enterprise investment in pollution control. However, few studies have explored the motivations behind enterprise investment in pollution control, primarily how CEOs’ early experiences influence their decisions. Based on the perspective of imprinting theory, this study examines the impact of CEOs with government work experience on enterprise investment in pollution control and the boundary conditions of this impact. Using data from a survey of private enterprises in China from 2008 to 2014, the empirical results indicate that CEOs with government work experience are likelier to promote enterprise investment in pollution control. Additionally, a CEO’s perceptions of economic, social, and political status negatively moderate the relationship between their government work experience and enterprise investment in pollution control. This study enriches and deepens the study on career imprinting in non-commercial fields, status perception, and sustainable development and provides practical significance for hiring CEOs with government work experience to promote enterprise investment in pollution control.

Suggested Citation

  • Mixiang Peng & Dayuan Li & Chaolin Zhang, 2025. "Do CEOs with government work experience foster enterprise investment in pollution control?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 20(1), pages 1-26, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0317903
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0317903
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0317903
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0317903&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0317903?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. Ferdaws Ezzi & Mouhamed Ali Azouzi & Anis Jarboui, 2016. "Does CEO emotional intelligence affect the performance of the diversifiable companies?," Cogent Economics & Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 4(1), pages 1230958-123, December.
    2. Hao Huang & Yaping Chang & Liyuan Zhang, 2023. "CEO's marketing experience and firm green innovation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(8), pages 5211-5233, December.
    3. Lei Du & Shenggang Ren, 2024. "CEO poverty experience and corporate environmental violations," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3), pages 1853-1864, March.
    4. Yasir Shahab & Collins G. Ntim & Yugang Chen & Farid Ullah & Hai‐Xia Li & Zhiwei Ye, 2020. "Chief executive officer attributes, sustainable performance, environmental performance, and environmental reporting: New insights from upper echelons perspective," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(1), pages 1-16, January.
    5. Erynne E. Landry & Richard A. Bernardi & Susan M. Bosco, 2016. "Recognition for Sustained Corporate Social Responsibility: Female Directors Make a Difference," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(1), pages 27-36, January.
    6. Haojun, Wang & Jiazhu, Li, 2024. "Professional experience of CEOs in industry associations and corporate green innovation-empirical evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    7. Habiba Al-Shaer & Mahbub Zaman, 2019. "CEO Compensation and Sustainability Reporting Assurance: Evidence from the UK," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 158(1), pages 233-252, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Douglas A. Adu & Antoinette Flynn & Colette Grey, 2022. "Executive compensation and sustainable business practices: The moderating role of sustainability‐based compensation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(3), pages 698-736, March.
    2. Ali Meftah Gerged & Rami Salem & Musa Ghazwani, 2025. "Corporate Anti‐Corruption Disclosure and Corporate Sustainability Performance in the United Kingdom: Does Sustainability Governance Matter?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(2), pages 2589-2606, February.
    3. Douglas A. Adu & Basil Al‐Najjar & Thitima Sitthipongpanich, 2022. "Executive compensation, environmental performance, and sustainable banking: The moderating effect of governance mechanisms," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 1439-1463, May.
    4. Karim Mahran & Ahmed A. Elamer, 2024. "Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and corporate environmental sustainability: A systematic literature review and avenues for future research," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3), pages 1977-2003, March.
    5. Victor Daniel Vasconcelos & Maisa Souza de Ribeiro, 2025. "Executive Gender Diversity and Eco‐Innovation in Brazil: The Moderating Role of Sustainable Compensation Policies," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(5), pages 6066-6087, September.
    6. Khanh Hoang, 2022. "How does corporate R&D investment respond to climate policy uncertainty? Evidence from heavy emitter firms in the United States," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(4), pages 936-949, July.
    7. Li, Jiazhu & Wang, Haojun, 2026. "A study of the impact of real option investment on firms' long-term performance under uncertainty: Empirical evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    8. Katia Furlotti & Tatiana Mazza & Veronica Tibiletti & Silvia Triani, 2019. "Women in top positions on boards of directors: Gender policies disclosed in Italian sustainability reporting," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(1), pages 57-70, January.
    9. Shi, Daqian & Lu, Shan & Fang, Ziwei, 2024. "The effect of executive green human capital on greenwashing," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    10. Mou, Saiya & Wang, Xinquan & Hu, Feng, 2025. "Does privatization hurt ESG? The role of state-owned imprinting," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    11. María Victoria Uribe‐Bohorquez & Jennifer Martínez‐Ferrero & Isabel‐María García‐Sánchez, 2019. "Women on boards and efficiency in a business‐orientated environment," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(1), pages 82-96, January.
    12. Ishmael Tingbani & Lyton Chithambo & Venancio Tauringana & Nikolaos Papanikolaou, 2020. "Board gender diversity, environmental committee and greenhouse gas voluntary disclosures," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 2194-2210, September.
    13. Andreas Wagner & Denise Fischer‐Kreer, 2024. "The role of CEO regulatory focus in increasing or reducing corporate carbon emissions," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 1051-1065, February.
    14. Yu Wang & Yetaotao Qiu & Yi Luo, 2022. "CEO foreign experience and corporate sustainable development: Evidence from China," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 2036-2051, July.
    15. Kun Wang & Hao Huang & Youwei Yuan, 2024. "Can CEO's professional connections drive green innovation of SMEs?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(6), pages 5975-5995, September.
    16. Qiuyang Tu & Zhao Duan & Hong Zhou, 2024. "Performance gap and the timing of corporate social responsibility disclosure‐A trust repair perspective," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(5), pages 4878-4892, September.
    17. Nhat Minh Tran, 2022. "CEO and Chairperson Characteristics and Corporate Environmental Performance: A Study of Cooperatives in Vietnam," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(4), pages 21582440221, October.
    18. Liwei Shan & Albert Tsang & Xiaoxue Zhang, 2024. "Transporting Audit Quality Across Countries: Returnee CEOs and Audit Fees," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 192(4), pages 845-874, July.
    19. Alamzeb Aamir & Sharif Ullah Jan & Abdul Qadus & Abdelmohsen A. Nassani & Mohamed Haffar, 2021. "Impact of Knowledge Sharing on Sustainable Performance: Mediating Role of Employee’s Ambidexterity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-13, November.
    20. Nguyen Vinh Khuong & Vu Tran Trong Tai & Le Huu Tuan Anh, 2025. "The Mediating Role of Financial Reporting Quality in the Relationship Between CEO Power and Carbon Emission Disclosures: Evidence From Vietnamese Companies," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(4), pages 4048-4071, May.

    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:plo:pone00:0317903. 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: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    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.