ABSTRACT

There is a growing volume of literature on corporate governance and sustainability. Despite this, the relationship between corporate governance (CG) and carbon emissions performance (CEP) is an unresolved issue. This motivates us to examine the impact of CG on CEP, using a sample of all Australian firms that have participated in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) questionnaire survey. This study employs fixed-effects modelling for an unbalanced panel of 425 firm-year observations from 2010–2018. We find that firms with higher board independence and the presence of an environmental committee show enhanced CEP. Further, frequency of board meetings and gender diversity lead to improved CEP. However, ownership concentration does not appear to improve CEP. Our article provides valuable insight for corporate directors and regulators to help them recognize the vital role that board meetings, board gender diversity, board independence, and the presence of an environmental committee play in driving the carbon performance of companies. They can also use these results to identify positive elements of CG that may deserve additional regulatory focus to achieve carbon policy objectives. This study contributes to the increasing literature on the association between CG and climate change and presents a new direction for related research on whether and how CEP is influenced by CG.

摘要

关于公司治理和可持续性的文献越来越多。尽管如此，公司治理（CG）和碳排放绩效（CEP）之间的关系仍然是一个悬而未决的问题。这促使我们使用参与碳信息披露项目 (CDP) 问卷调查的所有澳大利亚公司的样本来检验 CG 对 CEP 的影响。本研究对 2010-2018 年 425 个公司年度观察的不平衡面板采用固定效应模型。我们发现具有更高董事会独立性和环境委员会存在的公司表现出增强的 CEP。此外，董事会会议的频率和性别多样性导致 CEP 的改善。然而，所有权集中似乎并没有改善 CEP。我们的文章为公司董事和监管机构提供了宝贵的见解，帮助他们认识到董事会会议、董事会性别多元化、董事会独立性以及环境委员会的存在在推动公司碳绩效方面发挥的重要作用。他们还可以使用这些结果来确定 CG 的积极要素，这些要素可能值得额外监管以实现碳政策目标。本研究为越来越多关于CG与气候变化关联的文献做出了贡献，并为CEP是否以及如何受CG影响的相关研究提供了新的方向。他们还可以使用这些结果来确定 CG 的积极要素，这些要素可能值得额外监管以实现碳政策目标。本研究为越来越多关于CG与气候变化关联的文献做出了贡献，并为CEP是否以及如何受CG影响的相关研究提供了新的方向。他们还可以使用这些结果来确定 CG 的积极要素，这些要素可能值得额外监管以实现碳政策目标。本研究为越来越多关于CG与气候变化关联的文献做出了贡献，并为CEP是否以及如何受CG影响的相关研究提供了新的方向。