Abstract
Environmentally hazardous manufacturing facilities are disproportionately located in underserved communities, which exposes low-income and non-white populations to significantly higher toxic releases and adverse health risks. We study whether a firm governance reform— specifically, appointing a Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO)—can mitigate this environmental injustice. Using data on the toxic releases of U.S. manufacturing facilities from 2000 to 2020, we find that appointing a CSO decreases toxic releases by up to 19% and that the effect is particularly pronounced for facilities in under-served communities. Our work sheds new light on how corporate governance reforms act as a control mechanism for addressing environmental injustice, an issue that has proven challenging to regulate effectively.
Original language | English (US) |
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Journal | Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings |
Volume | 2024 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2024 |
Externally published | Yes |
Event | 84th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, AOM 2024 - Chicago, United States Duration: Aug 9 2024 → Aug 13 2024 |
Bibliographical note
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