CEO Attributes, Sustainable Performance, Environmental Performance, and Environmental Reporting: New Insights from Upper Echelons Perspective

Abstract

This study examines the impact of CEO attributes on sustainable performance, environmental performance and environmental reporting, which are motivated by institutionally-driven environmental policies, regulations, and management in the context of Chinese listed firms. Using a comprehensive dataset of 2,854 Chinese listed firms over the 2010-2017 period (i.e., making over 16,000 individual firm-year observations), our findings are four-fold. First, our overall findings reveal that CEOs with research background tend to engage more in activities that improve sustainable performance, environmental performance, and environmental reporting compared with those that are not. Second, CEOs with financial expertise are positively linked with increased sustainable performance and environmental reporting. Third, CEOs with foreign exposure are more eager to engage in activities that enhance sustainable and environmental performance than those that are not. Fourth, young CEOs tend to take actions that reduce both sustainable and environmental performance than their older counterparts. We interpret our results within upper echelons theoretical perspective. The results are robust to alternative measures, potential endogeneities and sample selection problems.