CEO較同儕年長的公司會有較佳的環境績效？檢測納入其職涯動向與薪酬設計及董事年齡對環境績效影響

Abstract

本研究探討美國上市公司2002年至2024年的CEO名單與其Refinitiv環境類別分數間關聯。首先檢視公司環境績效影響CEO的離職風險，進而檢驗是否存在能提升公司環境績效的最適CEO年齡區間。進一步在模型納入個人因素如CEO職涯動向，以及公司環境因素如董事會年齡多樣性及CEO薪酬設計。 實證結果顯示，年齡在即將可退休階段且任職公司環境績效高於當年度同業中位數之CEO，其離職風險通常會更低；同時，處在特定年齡階段的CEO或為自己增益職涯籌碼，對提升公司環境績效會比年輕同儕更加積極；除此之外，董事會成員年齡分布越集中，以及CEO薪酬與永續分數相關性越強，CEO年齡對公司環境績效影響較大；而任何類型的CEO職涯變動皆無法加強或減弱CEO年齡對公司短期環境績效的影響。

This study investigates the relationship between the age of CEOs of U.S. publicly listed companies and the environmental scores under Refinitiv from 2002 to 2024. It first explores whether a company's environmental performance affects a CEO's career length. Then it tests whether there exists an optimal range of CEO age with respect to a firm’s environmental performance. The analysis incorporates both individual-level factors including CEO career progression and firm-level factors including the diversity of board age as well as CEO compensation design. The empirical results show that the CEOs who are approaching retirement, especially when their employing firms outperform their peers within the industry environmentally in the same year, tend to have lower turnover hazard and achieve better environmental scores than CEOs in other age groups. This study also documents that CEOs at certain age stages may be more proactive than their younger peers in improving corporate environmental performance, perhaps as a means to enhance their career capital. Furthermore, firms with a more concentrated age distribution among board members and a stronger coefficient of correlation between CEO compensation and sustainability scores tend to exhibit more pronounced effect of CEO age on environmental performance. None of CEO career progression, however, moderate the effect of CEO age on the firm's short-term environmental performance.