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The Influence of Top Managers on Environmental Information Disclosure: The Moderating Effect of Company’s Environmental Performance

Author

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  • Yuan Ma

    (College of Economics and Management, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266590, China)

  • Qiang Zhang

    (College of Economics and Management, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266590, China)

  • Qiyue Yin

    (College of Economics and Management, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266590, China)

  • Bingcheng Wang

    (College of Economics and Management, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266590, China)

Abstract

Abundant extant literature emphasizes the impact of board members attributes’ influence on environmental information disclosure. Considering the voluntary nature of environmental information disclosure, executives have strong managerial discretion when they make such decisions, so this article focuses on top managers’ influence on environmental information disclosure. We hypothesize that top managers’ educational background and age will affect companies’ environmental decision. The hypotheses are verified with the data from Chinese listed manufacturing companies. As the results show, a Master of Business Administration (MBA) educational background and average age of top managers positively affect environmental information disclosure, while the impact of legal educational background is negative. The company’s environmental performance plays a U-shaped moderating effect on the relationship between MBA educational background and environmental information disclosure.

Suggested Citation

  • Yuan Ma & Qiang Zhang & Qiyue Yin & Bingcheng Wang, 2019. "The Influence of Top Managers on Environmental Information Disclosure: The Moderating Effect of Company’s Environmental Performance," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-15, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:7:p:1167-:d:218875
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