Peng Xuhui, Zhang Ruru
Business School, Central University of Finance and Economics, 39 South College Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100081, China.
School of Economics and Management, Hanshan Normal University, Qiao Dong, Chaozhou City, Guangdong, 515633, China.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2022 May;29(22):33443-33473. doi: 10.1007/s11356-022-18603-6. Epub 2022 Jan 14.
With the increasing concern regarding climate change, academics and practitioners are devoting attention to corporate environmental sustainability development. However, corporate environmental responsibility as an outcome of corporate governance (CG) practice is also constrained by national culture as an institutional factor, and research on the relationship between CG and environmental sustainability performance (ESP) with consideration for national culture remains scarce. Therefore, this study investigates the ESP data of Forbes' listed multinational corporations (MNCs) through content analysis and applies STATA software with stepwise regression models to empirically test the relationship between CG and MNCs' ESP and the moderating effects of national culture on this relationship. The results show that board independence and board size positively affect MNCs' ESP, and the relationship between board independence and MNCs' ESP is negatively moderated by masculinity and uncertainty avoidance. Our results emphasize the importance of CG in environmental decision-making by board management supervision enhancement and explain how national culture affects ESP because of its influence on CG. Our study explains the agency effect of board composition on MNCs' environmental sustainability development and the influence of national culture, which establishes a link between CG, ESP, and national culture. Moreover, policymakers and MNCs' suggestions for enhancing ESP through CG measures, while considering national culture, are also provided.
随着对气候变化的关注度不断提高，学者和从业者都在关注企业环境可持续发展。然而，作为公司治理（CG）实践结果的企业环境责任也受到作为制度因素的国家文化的制约，考虑到国家文化的情况下，关于公司治理与环境可持续发展绩效（ESP）之间关系的研究仍然很少。因此，本研究通过内容分析调查了《福布斯》上市跨国公司（MNC）的ESP数据，并应用带有逐步回归模型的STATA软件实证检验公司治理与跨国公司ESP之间的关系以及国家文化对这种关系的调节作用。结果表明，董事会独立性和董事会规模对跨国公司的ESP有积极影响，而男性气质和不确定性规避对董事会独立性与跨国公司ESP之间的关系有负向调节作用。我们的研究结果强调了通过加强董事会管理监督，公司治理在环境决策中的重要性，并解释了国家文化如何因其对公司治理的影响而影响ESP。我们的研究解释了董事会构成对跨国公司环境可持续发展的代理效应以及国家文化的影响，这在公司治理、ESP和国家文化之间建立了联系。此外，还为政策制定者和跨国公司提供了在考虑国家文化的情况下，通过公司治理措施提高ESP的建议。
