IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/corsem/v32y2025i5p6690-6711.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

CEO Turnover and Ethical Transparency: The Role of Leadership Transitions in Shaping ESG Disclosure Among KOSPI‐Listed Companies

Author

Listed:
  • Jongwon Choi
  • Suk Hyun
  • Ju Hyoung Park

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of CEO turnover on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure practices, focusing on how distinct types of leadership transitions influence corporate transparency in an emerging market context. Drawing on data from KOSPI‐listed firms in South Korea between 2013 and 2020, we develop a detailed typology of CEO turnover, including internal versus external appointments, owner‐manager versus professional managers, and voluntary versus forced transitions, to examine their differential effects on ESG reporting. We find that ESG disclosure significantly increases following CEO transition, particularly when the incoming CEO is an externally hired or a professional executive. The results underscore the strategic role of leadership change in advancing sustainability initiatives, as new CEOs often seek legitimacy and alignment with stakeholder expectations.

Suggested Citation

  • Jongwon Choi & Suk Hyun & Ju Hyoung Park, 2025. "CEO Turnover and Ethical Transparency: The Role of Leadership Transitions in Shaping ESG Disclosure Among KOSPI‐Listed Companies," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(5), pages 6690-6711, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:corsem:v:32:y:2025:i:5:p:6690-6711
    DOI: 10.1002/csr.70049
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.70049
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/csr.70049?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
    ---><---

    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:wly:corsem:v:32:y:2025:i:5:p:6690-6711. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: https://doi.org/10.1002/(ISSN)1535-3966 .

    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.