IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v177y2022i3d10.1007_s10551-021-04740-4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Ruthless Exploiters or Ethical Guardians of the Workforce? Powerful CEOs and their Impact on Workplace Safety and Health

Author

Listed:
  • Jesper Haga

    (Hanken School of Economics)

  • Fredrik Huhtamäki

    (Hanken School of Economics)

  • Dennis Sundvik

    (Hanken School of Economics)

Abstract

The allocation of resources among different stakeholders is an ethical dilemma for chief executive officers (CEOs). In this study, we investigate the association between CEO power and workplace injuries and illnesses. We use an establishment-level dataset comprising 31,924 establishment-year observations between 2002 and 2011. Our main result shows that employees at firms with structurally powerful CEOs experience fewer workplace injuries and illnesses and days away from work. We reason that CEOs derive a private benefit from low injury and illness rates and that powerful CEOs are better at influencing employees to take workplace safety and health seriously. Additional analyses reveal fewer injuries and illnesses in firms led by CEOs with expertise power. However, increased injuries and illnesses were linked to firms controlled by CEOs with ownership power. Moreover, we find that structurally powerful CEOs mitigate injury and illness differences in relation to geographical proximity to corporate headquarters. We contribute with both research and practical implications on the topics of CEO power and corporate social responsibility (CSR) in general and workplace safety and health in particular.

Suggested Citation

  • Jesper Haga & Fredrik Huhtamäki & Dennis Sundvik, 2022. "Ruthless Exploiters or Ethical Guardians of the Workforce? Powerful CEOs and their Impact on Workplace Safety and Health," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 177(3), pages 641-663, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:177:y:2022:i:3:d:10.1007_s10551-021-04740-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-021-04740-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-021-04740-4
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-021-04740-4?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. W. Viscusi, 2010. "The heterogeneity of the value of statistical life: Introduction and overview," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 1-13, February.
    2. Augustin Landier & Vinay B. Nair & Julie Wulf, 2009. "Trade-offs in Staying Close: Corporate Decision Making and Geographic Dispersion," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(3), pages 1119-1148.
    3. Milton Friedman, 1971. "A Theoretical Framework for Monetary Analysis," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number frie71-1.
    4. Joon Mahn Lee & Byoung‐Hyoun Hwang & Hailiang Chen, 2017. "Are founder CEOs more overconfident than professional CEOs? Evidence from S&P 1500 companies," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(3), pages 751-769, March.
    5. Henrik Cronqvist & Fredrik Heyman & Mattias Nilsson & Helena Svaleryd & Jonas Vlachos, 2009. "Do Entrenched Managers Pay Their Workers More?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(1), pages 309-339, February.
    6. Frank Li & Tao Li & Dylan Minor, 2016. "CEO power, corporate social responsibility, and firm value: a test of agency theory," International Journal of Managerial Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 12(5), pages 611-628, October.
    7. Renée B. Adams & Heitor Almeida & Daniel Ferreira, 2005. "Powerful CEOs and Their Impact on Corporate Performance," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 18(4), pages 1403-1432.
    8. Rui Albuquerque & Yrjö Koskinen & Chendi Zhang, 2019. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Risk: Theory and Empirical Evidence," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(10), pages 4451-4469, October.
    9. Jonathan B. Cohn & Malcolm I. Wardlaw, 2016. "Financing Constraints and Workplace Safety," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 71(5), pages 2017-2058, October.
    10. Jianyun Tang & Mary Crossan & W. Glenn Rowe, 2011. "Dominant CEO, Deviant Strategy, and Extreme Performance: The Moderating Role of a Powerful Board," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(7), pages 1479-1503, November.
    11. M. Pagano & P. F. Volpin, 2005. "Managers, Workers, and Corporate Control," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(2), pages 841-868, April.
    12. Li, Feng & Minnis, Michael & Nagar, Venky & Rajan, Madhav, 2014. "Knowledge, compensation, and firm value: An empirical analysis of firm communication," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(1), pages 96-116.
    13. Michael Ewens & Matt Marx, 2018. "Founder Replacement and Startup Performance," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 31(4), pages 1532-1565.
    14. Serfling, Matthew A., 2014. "CEO age and the riskiness of corporate policies," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 251-273.
    15. Galizzi, Monica & Zagorsky, Jay L., 2009. "How do on-the-job injuries and illnesses impact wealth?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 26-36, January.
    16. El-Khatib, Rwan & Fogel, Kathy & Jandik, Tomas, 2015. "CEO network centrality and merger performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(2), pages 349-382.
    17. Amir Barnea & Amir Rubin, 2010. "Corporate Social Responsibility as a Conflict Between Shareholders," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 97(1), pages 71-86, November.
    18. Amernic, Joel & Craig, Russell, 2017. "CEO speeches and safety culture: British Petroleum before the Deepwater Horizon disaster," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 61-80.
    19. Michele Fabrizi & Christine Mallin & Giovanna Michelon, 2014. "The Role of CEO’s Personal Incentives in Driving Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 124(2), pages 311-326, October.
    20. Laura Petitta & Tahira M. Probst & Claudio Barbaranelli, 2017. "Safety Culture, Moral Disengagement, and Accident Underreporting," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 141(3), pages 489-504, March.
    21. Faccio, Mara & Marchica, Maria-Teresa & Mura, Roberto, 2016. "CEO gender, corporate risk-taking, and the efficiency of capital allocation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 193-209.
    22. Boden, L.I., 2005. "Running on empty: Families, time, and workplace injuries," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 95(11), pages 1894-1897.
    23. Li, Minwen & Lu, Yao & Phillips, Gordon M., 2019. "CEOs and the Product Market: When Are Powerful CEOs Beneficial?," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 54(6), pages 2295-2326, December.
    24. Judith L. Walls & Pascual Berrone, 2017. "The Power of One to Make a Difference: How Informal and Formal CEO Power Affect Environmental Sustainability," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 145(2), pages 293-308, October.
    25. Adair Morse & Vikram Nanda & Amit Seru, 2011. "Are Incentive Contracts Rigged by Powerful CEOs?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(5), pages 1779-1821, October.
    26. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    27. Bebchuk, Lucian A. & Cremers, K.J. Martijn & Peyer, Urs C., 2011. "The CEO pay slice," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(1), pages 199-221, October.
    28. Caskey, Judson & Ozel, N. Bugra, 2017. "Earnings expectations and employee safety," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 121-141.
    29. Chung, Kee H. & Zhang, Hao, 2011. "Corporate Governance and Institutional Ownership," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 46(1), pages 247-273, February.
    30. Xiao Yuan & Yaoshan Xu & Yongjuan Li, 2020. "Resource Depletion Perspective on the Link Between Abusive Supervision and Safety Behaviors," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 162(1), pages 213-228, February.
    31. Fama, Eugene F & Jensen, Michael C, 1983. "Separation of Ownership and Control," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(2), pages 301-325, June.
    32. Jiraporn, P. & Chintrakarn, P., 2013. "How do powerful CEOs view corporate social responsibility (CSR)? An empirical note," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 119(3), pages 344-347.
    33. Mohammad Jizi & Aly Salama & Robert Dixon & Rebecca Stratling, 2014. "Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure: Evidence from the US Banking Sector," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 125(4), pages 601-615, December.
    34. Christensen, Hans B. & Floyd, Eric & Liu, Lisa Yao & Maffett, Mark, 2017. "The real effects of mandated information on social responsibility in financial reports: Evidence from mine-safety records," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 284-304.
    35. Mohammad Badrul Muttakin & Arifur Khan & Dessalegn Getie Mihret, 2018. "The Effect of Board Capital and CEO Power on Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosures," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(1), pages 41-56, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xin Cheng & Orhun Guldiken & Wei Shi, 2023. "Geographic Concentration of Institutional Blockholders and Workplace Safety Violations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 186(3), pages 593-613, September.
    2. Ullah, Irfan & Jebran, Khalil & Umar, Muhammad & Bin Yousaf, Umair, 2023. "Chief executive officer trustworthiness and green innovation," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    3. Huang, Wenxuan & Xu, Weidong & Gao, Xin & Li, Donghui & Fu, Wentao, 2023. "Terrorist attacks and CEO compensation: UK evidence," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Farman Ullah Khan & Vanina Adoriana Trifan & Mioara Florina Pantea & Junrui Zhang & Muhammad Nouman, 2022. "Internal Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility: Evidence from Chinese Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-20, February.
    2. Bristy, Humyra Jabeen & Han, Jianlei & Tian, Gary Gang, 2022. "CEO power and labor-friendly policy," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    3. Sheikh, Shahbaz, 2018. "CEO power, product market competition and firm value," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 373-386.
    4. Boubaker, Sabri & Chebbi, Kaouther & Grira, Jocelyn, 2020. "Top management inside debt and corporate social responsibility? Evidence from the US," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 98-115.
    5. Li, Chengcheng & Wang, Xiaoqiong, 2022. "Local peer effects of corporate social responsibility," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    6. Mark Humphery‐Jenner & Emdad Islam & Lubna Rahman & Jo‐Ann Suchard, 2022. "Powerful CEOs and Corporate Governance," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(1), pages 135-188, March.
    7. Hwang, Hyoseok (David) & Kim, Hyun-Dong & Kim, Taeyeon, 2020. "The blind power: Power-led CEO overconfidence and M&A decision making," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    8. Amin, Abu & Chourou, Lamia & Kamal, Syed & Malik, Mahfuja & Zhao, Yang, 2020. "It’s who you know that counts: Board connectedness and CSR performance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    9. Joan Wiggenhorn & Seema Pissaris & Kimberly Gleason, 2016. "Powerful CEOs and employee relations: evidence from corporate social responsibility indicators," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 40(1), pages 85-104, January.
    10. Siew − Peng Lee, 2021. "Environmental responsibility, CEO power and financial performance in the energy sector," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 15(8), pages 2407-2426, November.
    11. Chakraborty, Atreya & Gao, Lucia Silva & Sheikh, Shahbaz, 2019. "Managerial risk taking incentives, corporate social responsibility and firm risk," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 58-72.
    12. Justin Law & Wayne Yu, 2018. "Corporate spinoffs and executive compensation," Frontiers of Business Research in China, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 1-25, December.
    13. Junaid Haider & Hong-Xing Fang, 2018. "CEO power, corporate risk taking and role of large shareholders," Journal of Financial Economic Policy, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 10(1), pages 55-72, April.
    14. Chowdhury, Md Raihan Uddin & Xie, Feixue & Hasan, Md Mahmudul, 2023. "Powerful CEOs and investment efficiency," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    15. Siew Peng Lee, 2023. "Board monitoring effectiveness and corporate sustainability performance: do legal system and CEO non-duality matter?," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 1243-1267, May.
    16. Sanjukta Brahma & Fotini Economou, 2024. "CEO power and corporate strategies: a review of the literature," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 62(3), pages 1069-1143, April.
    17. Gunasekarage, Abeyratna & Luong, Hoa & Truong, Thanh Tan, 2020. "Growth and market share matrix, CEO power, and firm performance," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    18. Byun, Kyung-Ah (Kay) & Al-Shammari, Marwan, 2021. "When narcissistic CEOs meet power: Effects of CEO narcissism and power on the likelihood of product recalls in consumer-packaged goods," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 45-60.
    19. Zhang, Zhuang & Chizema, Amon & Kuo, Jing-Ming & Zhang, Qingjing, 2022. "Managerial risk-reducing incentives and social and exchange capital," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(6).
    20. Hossain, Ashrafee Tanvir & Kryzanowski, Lawrence, 2021. "Political corruption and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:177:y:2022:i:3:d:10.1007_s10551-021-04740-4. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.