Scholarlink

<p>We examine the effect of executives’ educational characteristics on corporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure. According to upper echelons theory, enterprises’ decisions depend on managers’ traits. We find that the level of education received by executives affects the level of corporate disclosure. Moreover, the major they study can further influence this effect. This improvement is mainly driven by the high non-shareholder-oriented ESG, environmental innovations, earnings, and sensitivity to environmental policies channel. Heterogeneity analysis finds that this conclusion holds for SOEs and nonpolluting firms. Further analysis proves that apart from the education level of senior executives, that of supervisors and directors plays a role in ESG disclosure. In addition, their education level improves the greenwashing risks. The proportion of major in liberal arts enriches this effect, which must be carefully identified.</p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

Characteristics of executives’ education and corporate sustainability: evidence from disclosure of environmental, social, and governance

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年6月11日

查看全文
  • Xiaojuan Hou,
  • Ming Jin

摘要

We examine the effect of executives’ educational characteristics on corporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure. According to upper echelons theory, enterprises’ decisions depend on managers’ traits. We find that the level of education received by executives affects the level of corporate disclosure. Moreover, the major they study can further influence this effect. This improvement is mainly driven by the high non-shareholder-oriented ESG, environmental innovations, earnings, and sensitivity to environmental policies channel. Heterogeneity analysis finds that this conclusion holds for SOEs and nonpolluting firms. Further analysis proves that apart from the education level of senior executives, that of supervisors and directors plays a role in ESG disclosure. In addition, their education level improves the greenwashing risks. The proportion of major in liberal arts enriches this effect, which must be carefully identified.