IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/rvmgts/v15y2021i8d10.1007_s11846-020-00430-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Environmental responsibility, CEO power and financial performance in the energy sector

Author

Listed:
  • Siew − Peng Lee

    (Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman)

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of environmental responsibility on financial performance among firms in the energy sector. In addition, this study also assesses whether CSR and environmental responsibility are more value enhancing for firms with powerful CEOs. The sample consists of 75 firms obtained from the MSCI World Energy index from 2013 to 2017. Two − stage least − squares estimation is applied. The result shows that environmental responsibility practices positively affect a firm’s financial performance. When the three individual dimensions of environmental responsibility are considered, product innovation and resource reduction are positively associated with the firms’ financial performance, but emission reduction is not significant. In addition, this study finds no support for CEO power moderating the relationship between CSR and financial performance, or between environmental responsibility and financial performance. The evidence suggests that in the presence of CEO power, corporate environmental and social activities are not due to agency motives but rather something that is good for the firm and value enhancing, which is consistent with the stakeholder theory of corporate social responsibility.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:rvmgts:v:15:y:2021:i:8:d:10.1007_s11846-020-00430-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s11846-020-00430-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11846-020-00430-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11846-020-00430-z?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. Conrad, Klaus & Wastl, Dieter, 1995. "The Impact of Environmental Regulation on Productivity in German Industries," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 615-633.
    2. repec:cup:cbooks:9781108422536 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Pekovic, Sanja & Grolleau, Gilles & Mzoughi, Naoufel, 2018. "Environmental investments: Too much of a good thing?," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 297-302.
    4. Hoje Jo & Maretno Harjoto, 2011. "Corporate Governance and Firm Value: The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 103(3), pages 351-383, October.
    5. Stefan Ambec & Mark A. Cohen & Stewart Elgie & Paul Lanoie, 2013. "The Porter Hypothesis at 20: Can Environmental Regulation Enhance Innovation and Competitiveness?," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 7(1), pages 2-22, January.
    6. Petitjean, Mikael, 2019. "Eco-friendly policies and financial performance: Was the financial crisis a game changer for large US companies?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 502-511.
    7. Ferrell, Allen & Liang, Hao & Renneboog, Luc, 2016. "Socially responsible firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(3), pages 585-606.
    8. Fisher-Vanden, Karen & Thorburn, Karin S., 2011. "Voluntary corporate environmental initiatives and shareholder wealth," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 62(3), pages 430-445.
    9. Kao, Erin H. & Yeh, Chih-Chuan & Wang, Li-Hsun & Fung, Hung-Gay, 2018. "The relationship between CSR and performance: Evidence in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 155-170.
    10. Krüger, Philipp, 2015. "Corporate goodness and shareholder wealth," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(2), pages 304-329.
    11. 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.
    12. Hoje Jo & Maretno Harjoto, 2012. "The Causal Effect of Corporate Governance on Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 106(1), pages 53-72, March.
    13. Bouslah, Kais & Kryzanowski, Lawrence & M’Zali, Bouchra, 2013. "The impact of the dimensions of social performance on firm risk," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 1258-1273.
    14. Freeman, R. Edward, 1994. "The Politics of Stakeholder Theory: Some Future Directions1," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 4(4), pages 409-421, October.
    15. 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.
    16. 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.
    17. Iwata, Hiroki & Okada, Keisuke, 2011. "How does environmental performance affect financial performance? Evidence from Japanese manufacturing firms," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(9), pages 1691-1700, July.
    18. Brooks,Chris, 2019. "Introductory Econometrics for Finance," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781108436823, September.
    19. Kounetas, Kostas & Alexopoulos, Elias & Tzelepis, Dimitris, 2016. "Environmental and Financial Performance. Is there a win-win or a win-loss situation? Evidence from the Greek manufacturing," MPRA Paper 80906, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 19 Jul 2017.
    20. Uwafiokun Idemudia, 2010. "Rethinking the role of corporate social responsibility in the Nigerian oil conflict: The limits of CSR," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(7), pages 833-845.
    21. Sylvia Grewatsch & Ingo Kleindienst, 2017. "When Does It Pay to be Good? Moderators and Mediators in the Corporate Sustainability–Corporate Financial Performance Relationship: A Critical Review," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 145(2), pages 383-416, October.
    22. Takashi Hatakeda & Katsuhiko Kokubu & Takehisa Kajiwara & Kimitaka Nishitani, 2012. "Factors Influencing Corporate Environmental Protection Activities for Greenhouse Gas Emission Reductions: The Relationship Between Environmental and Financial Performance," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 53(4), pages 455-481, December.
    23. Dyck, Alexander & Lins, Karl V. & Roth, Lukas & Wagner, Hannes F., 2019. "Do institutional investors drive corporate social responsibility? International evidence," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(3), pages 693-714.
    24. Özgür Arslan-Ayaydin & James Thewissen, 2016. "The financial reward for environmental performance in the energy sector," Energy & Environment, , vol. 27(3-4), pages 389-413, May.
    25. Gonenc, Halit & Scholtens, Bert, 2017. "Environmental and Financial Performance of Fossil Fuel Firms: A Closer Inspection of their Interaction," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 307-328.
    26. 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.
    27. Ronald W. Masulis & Syed Walid Reza, 2015. "Agency Problems of Corporate Philanthropy," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 28(2), pages 592-636.
    28. Mikko Manner, 2010. "The Impact of CEO Characteristics on Corporate Social Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 93(1), pages 53-72, June.
    29. Joel Harper & Li Sun, 2019. "CEO power and corporate social responsibility," American Journal of Business, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 34(2), pages 93-115, June.
    30. 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.
    31. José Allouche & Patrice Laroche, 2005. "A Meta-analytical investigation of the relationship between corporate social and financial performance," Post-Print hal-00923906, HAL.
    32. 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.
    33. Dylan Rassier & Dietrich Earnhart, 2010. "Does the Porter Hypothesis Explain Expected Future Financial Performance? The Effect of Clean Water Regulation on Chemical Manufacturing Firms," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 45(3), pages 353-377, March.
    34. Lioui, Abraham & Sharma, Zenu, 2012. "Environmental corporate social responsibility and financial performance: Disentangling direct and indirect effects," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 100-111.
    35. Mehran Nejati & Sasan Ghasemi, 2012. "Corporate social responsibility in Iran from the perspective of employees," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 8(4), pages 578-588, September.
    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. Amelia Bilbao-Terol & Mar Arenas-Parra & Raquel Quiroga-García & Celia Bilbao-Terol, 2024. "Is investing in the renewable energy stock market both financially and ESG efficient? A COVID-19 pandemic analysis," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 18(7), pages 1885-1916, July.
    2. José Manuel Maside‐Sanfiz & Óscar Suárez Fernández & María‐Celia López‐Penabad & Mohammad Omar Alzghoul, 2024. "Does corporate social performance improve environmentally adjusted efficiency? Evidence from the energy sector," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(3), pages 1510-1530, May.
    3. Tan, Qingmei & Yan, Kexin & Zou, Gaofeng, 2024. "Family involvement in management, social trust and the environmental responsibility performance of family firms," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    4. Zbysław Dobrowolski & Grzegorz Drozdowski & Mirela Panait & Arkadiusz Babczuk, 2022. "Can the Economic Value Added Be Used as the Universal Financial Metric?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-14, March.
    5. Magdalena Kludacz-Alessandri & Małgorzata Cygańska, 2021. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Financial Performance among Energy Sector Companies," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-16, September.
    6. Liang, Ting & Zhang, Yue-Jun & Qiang, Wei, 2022. "Does technological innovation benefit energy firms’ environmental performance? The moderating effect of government subsidies and media coverage," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    7. Jia Meng & ZhongXiang Zhang, 2022. "Corporate Environmental Information Disclosure and Investor Response: Empirical Evidence from China's Capital Market," Working Papers 2022.03, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    8. Siew Peng Lee & Mansor Isa, 2024. "Corporate sustainability practices and financial performance: The moderating role of corporate controversies and Shariah screening," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(4), pages 3651-3667, July.
    9. Meng, Jia & Zhang, ZhongXiang, 2022. "Corporate environmental information disclosure and investor response: Evidence from China's capital market," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    10. Anna Chwiłkowska-Kubala & Szymon Cyfert & Kamila Malewska & Katarzyna Mierzejewska & Witold Szumowski, 2021. "The Relationships among Social, Environmental, Economic CSR Practices and Digitalization in Polish Energy Companies," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-20, November.
    11. Lan Gao & Liang Wan, 2023. "Does corporate environmental responsibility contribute to financial performance? A dual path analysis through operational efficiency and the cost of debt," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(1), pages 308-323, January.
    12. Ampofo, Akwasi A. & Barkhi, Reza, 2024. "The impact of CEO power and ethical corporate citizenship on firms’ outcomes," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(PA).
    13. Martínez-Ferrero, Jennifer & Ramón-Llorens, M. Camino & García-Meca, Emma, 2024. "CEO narcissism and ESG misconduct," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    14. Bendig, David & Schulz, Colin & Theis, Lukas & Raff, Stefan, 2023. "Digital orientation and environmental performance in times of technological change," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 188(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. 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.
    2. Margarita Robaina & Mara Madaleno, 2020. "The relationship between emissions reduction and financial performance: Are Portuguese companies in a sustainable development path?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(3), pages 1213-1226, May.
    3. Ben Lahouel, Béchir & Ben Zaied, Younes & Managi, Shunsuke & Taleb, Lotfi, 2022. "Re-thinking about U: The relevance of regime-switching model in the relationship between environmental corporate social responsibility and financial performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 498-519.
    4. 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.
    5. Pi‐Hui Ting & Hsien‐yu Yin, 2018. "How do corporate social responsibility activities affect performance? The role of excess control right," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(6), pages 1320-1331, November.
    6. 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).
    7. 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.
    8. Chowdhury, Hasibul & Hodgson, Allan & Hasan, Mostafa Monzur, 2022. "Does a competitive external labour market affect corporate social responsibility? Evidence from industry tournament incentives," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(C).
    9. Buchanan, Bonnie G. & Cao, Cathy Xuying & Wang, Shuhui, 2021. "Corporate social responsibility and inside debt: The long game," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    10. Zhou, Fangzhao & Zhu, Jichen & Qi, Yawei & Yang, Jun & An, Yunbi, 2021. "Multi-dimensional corporate social responsibilities and stock price crash risk: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    11. Jongmoo Jay Choi & Hoje Jo & Jimi Kim & Moo Sung Kim, 2018. "Business Groups and Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 153(4), pages 931-954, December.
    12. Shahid Ali & Junrui Zhang & Muhammad Usman & Muhammad Kaleem Khan & Farman Ullah Khan & Muhammad Abubakkar Siddique, 2020. "Do tournament incentives motivate chief executive officers to be socially responsible?," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 35(5), pages 597-619, February.
    13. Angus W. H. Yip & William Y. P. Yu, 2023. "The Quality of Environmental KPI Disclosure in ESG Reporting for SMEs in Hong Kong," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-26, February.
    14. Minghui Yang & Yan Wang & Lu Bai & Petra Maresova, 2023. "Corporate social responsibility, family involvement, and stock price crash risk," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(3), pages 1204-1225, May.
    15. Mohammed Benlemlih & Mohammad Bitar, 2018. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Investment Efficiency," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(3), pages 647-671, March.
    16. Jie Chen & Xicheng Liu & Wei Song, 2018. "CEO general managerial skills and corporate social responsibility," Working Papers 2018-16, Swansea University, School of Management.
    17. Çiğdem Vural‐Yavaş, 2021. "Economic policy uncertainty, stakeholder engagement, and environmental, social, and governance practices: The moderating effect of competition," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(1), pages 82-102, January.
    18. Liu Wu & Zhen Shao & Changhui Yang & Tao Ding & Wan Zhang, 2020. "The Impact of CSR and Financial Distress on Financial Performance—Evidence from Chinese Listed Companies of the Manufacturing Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-19, August.
    19. Kabir, Md Nurul & Rahman, Sohanur & Rahman, Md Arifur & Anwar, Mumtaheena, 2021. "Carbon emissions and default risk: International evidence from firm-level data," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    20. Bryan Hong & Zhichuan Li & Dylan Minor, 2016. "Corporate Governance and Executive Compensation for Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 136(1), pages 199-213, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Agency theory; Stakeholder theory; CEO power; Environmental responsibility; Financial performance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M14 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Corporate Culture; Diversity; Social Responsibility

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:spr:rvmgts:v:15:y:2021:i:8:d:10.1007_s11846-020-00430-z. 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.