Chief sustainability officer expertise, sustainability-related executive compensation and corporate biodiversity disclosure: empirical evidence for the European capital market
Journal of Global Responsibility
ISSN: 2041-2568
Article publication date: 1 December 2022
Issue publication date: 23 March 2023
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship among chief sustainability officer (CSO) expertise, sustainability-related executive compensation (SEC) and biodiversity disclosure (BD).
Design/methodology/approach
Based on legitimacy and upper echelons theory, this study uses both random-effects and logit regressions and looks at the 2014–2019 financial years of companies listed on the STOXX Europe 600 (1,992 firm-year observations).
Findings
The findings of this study are in line with prior research on sustainable corporate governance and indicate that CSO sustainability expertise significantly increases BD and that SEC strengthens this relationship as a moderating variable. The results of this study are robust to a battery of sensitivity analyses.
Originality/value
This study makes a major contribution to prior analyses, as this appears to be the first on the link among CSO expertise, SEC and BD, as per the author’s knowledge. This study has major implications for business practice, regulators and research.
Keywords
Citation
Velte, P. (2023), "Chief sustainability officer expertise, sustainability-related executive compensation and corporate biodiversity disclosure: empirical evidence for the European capital market", Journal of Global Responsibility, Vol. 14 No. 2, pp. 241-253. https://doi.org/10.1108/JGR-06-2022-0055
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited