Renewable Governance: Good for the Environment?

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Dyck, Alexander; Lins, Karl, V; Roth, Lukas; Towner, Mitch; Wagner, Hannes F.
• 署名单位: University of Toronto; Utah System of Higher Education; University of Utah; University of Alberta; University of Arizona; Bocconi University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF ACCOUNTING RESEARCH
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0021-8456
• DOI: 10.1111/1475-679X.12462
• 发表日期: 2023
• 页码: 279-327
• 关键词: HEDGE FUND ACTIVISM; corporate governance; international evidence; ECONOMICS; matter; boards; FIRMS; LAW

摘要

We conjecture that board renewal mechanisms-those substantive enough to renew the thinking of the board-are required before investors can address the mismatch between their preferences regarding environmental sustainability and what insiders at firms are actually doing. We identify the adoption of majority voting for directors and the introduction of a female director as two corporate governance mechanisms potentially strong enough to renew a board's thinking on sustainability. Using a sample of 3,293 firms from 41 countries, along with quasi-exogenous shocks to board renewal mechanisms in Canada and France, we find that both board renewal mechanisms are associated with significantly higher future environmental performance. Further tests provide suggestive evidence that board renewal is more strongly associated with environmental performance in settings with better institutions and more motivated institutional investors. These results suggest the importance of board renewal for alignment of firm policies with investor preferences around the world.