Bringing Sustainable Development to the Corporate Level: Boards’ Cognitive Biases towards ESG and Relevant Debiasing Interventions

Abstract

The proposed research is an attempt to view how internationally recognised principles of sustainable development can be implemented at the corporate level, in particular, how the company’s board of directors should respond to climate and environmental challenges. Specifically, the paper examines the problem of reducing board members' repeated cognitive biases towards such a mainstream governance concept as ESG (Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance). The research focuses on the five most well-known cognitive biases of a board towards ESG, often encountered and described conceptually in behavioural literature: over-optimism, status quo effect, confirmation bias, hyperbolic discounting, and groupthink. Subsequently, the paper draws recommendations for overcoming or mitigating these biases by introducing and describing several debiasing interventions and quality control tools. These tools are conditionally divided into three groups: changing incentives, optimising choice architecture, and debiasing training. The author believes that incorporating behavioural insights into an analysis of the board’s ESG commitment would bring a fresh perspective to this research area, which now is typically dominated by a rational choice framework. The paper combines theoretical analysis of the existing literature in law, behavioural economics and psychology with qualitative research application based on data obtained from first-hand observations, board empirical studies, questionnaires, and focus groups.