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The impact of CEO power on different measures of environmental disclosure: Evidence from U.S. firms
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Jacqueline Jarosz Wukich 
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to investigate if the detriment to environmental (E) disclosures as a result of a chief executive officer’s (CEO) power is different for outcome versus intention-oriented disclosure characteristics. This paper creates four measures to capture the diverse nature of E disclosures that vary in the degree of accountability and comparability they provide: a) qualitative, b) quantitative, c) effectiveness, and d) effort. Seemingly unrelated regression is used on a sample of over 2,200 U.S. publicly traded companies. Findings suggest that the relationship between CEO power and E disclosures is not uniform. Powerful CEOs suppression of the most comparable outcome-based environmental disclosures (effectiveness) is greater than the suppression of other environmental disclosures. This is a particularly relevant relationship given shifts in corporate priorities as demonstrated by the proliferation of impact investing, the growth in E reporting, and the CEO’s stated commitment to maximizing stakeholder wealth that was discussed at the August 2019 Business Roundtable.
Keywords: ESG Disclosure, Environmental Disclosure, CEO Power, Accountability, Agency Theory, CSR
Authors’ individual contribution: The Author is responsible for all the contributions to the paper according to CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) standards.
Declaration of conflicting interests: The Author declares that there is no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgements: This manuscript benefited from comments provided by members of the faculty and PhD students at Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University and funding provided by the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University.
JEL Classification: M410, M490
Received: 14.10.2020
Accepted: 30.11.2020
Published online: 03.12.2020
How to cite this paper: Wukich, J. J. (2020). The impact of CEO power on different measures of environmental disclosure: Evidence from U.S. firms [Special issue]. Corporate Ownership & Control, 18(1), 423-437. https://doi.org/10.22495/cocv18i1siart15
