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Lawyers in the boardroom and firms’ environmental performance

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  • Liu, Xianda
  • An, Jiafu
  • Duan, Tinghua
  • Hou, Wenxuan
  • Zhao, Ruoran

Abstract

This paper studies whether and how firms’ legal environment influences their environmental performance. After presenting new evidence on the positive link between civil law origin and firms’ environmental outcomes, we propose and show that directors with legal study or work experience exert a stronger impact on firms’ environmental outcomes in civil law than in common law countries. The results suggest the compliance effect of legal directors is stronger for firms located in civil law countries than the litigation risk effect for firms in common law countries. Using a quasi-natural experiment of the Paris Agreement, we find evidence consistent with our interpretation.

Suggested Citation

  • Liu, Xianda & An, Jiafu & Duan, Tinghua & Hou, Wenxuan & Zhao, Ruoran, 2023. "Lawyers in the boardroom and firms’ environmental performance," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:intfin:v:89:y:2023:i:c:s1042443123001427
    DOI: 10.1016/j.intfin.2023.101874
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Firm emission; Legal origin; Environmental performance; Legal directors; Paris agreement;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • L14 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Transactional Relationships; Contracts and Reputation
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance
    • Q50 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - General

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