Abstract
This study intends to examine the effect of CEO succession with gender change from male to female (i.e., female CEO succession) on corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting. Based on insights from upper echelons theory, it is proposed that female CEO successors are more likely than male CEO successors to improve the firm’s CSR reporting level due to variations in their traits, values, and preferences regarding green issues, especially CSR. The study also explores the influence of the firm’s ownership status (i.e., SOEs vs. non-SOEs) and performance (high-performance firms vs. low-performance firms) on the relationship between female CEO succession and CSR reporting. Using data from Chinese publicly traded firms from 2010 to 2020, this study employs the logistic regression technique to examine the proposed relationship between female CEO succession and CSR reporting and presents robust evidence that female CEO succession has a positive effect on firm CSR reporting, and that this effect is more prevalent in non-SOEs and high-performance firms than in SOEs and low-performance firms, respectively. The study adds fresh insights to the extant literature on CSR and corporate leadership and offers useful policy recommendations for corporate decision-makers and policymakers while considering women’s involvement in succession plans for top leadership positions like CEO to tackle the strategic management of CSR disclosure in China.
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Data availability
The data used in this study was mainly collected from the Hexun database and the CSMAR database.
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This work is financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 71772140).
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RS designed the research framework and methodology, performed data collection and analysis, and wrote the original draft. LQ supervised the project, provided constructive feedback during writing, and reviewed the manuscript. HB participated in the analysis and reviewed the manuscript. The final manuscript has been read and approved by all authors.
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Shaheen, R., Luo, Q. & Bala, H. Female CEO succession and corporate social disclosure in China: unveiling the significance of ownership status and firm performance. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 14223–14239 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-23079-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-23079-5