Are Chief Sustainability Officers Guardians of Environmental Justice? An Empirical Evaluation

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.

Conference paper

Academy of Management Proceedings