The influence of CEO personal values on corporate environmental practices

This study aims to understand the role of CEO’ personal values for environmentally sustainable business practices. It addresses a research gap by exploring the influence of CEOs' psychological factors on business sustainability. The method applied in the study is logistic regression analysis on CEOs and firm-level data of Anglo-American companies, with data on the personal values of CEOs collected using text mining tools. Our sample consists of 139 CEOs and matching companies. We find that Openness to change values and Self-enhancement values act as enablers for corporate sustainability, while Self-transcendent values have a more complex and ambiguous impact. Our study is the first empirical examination of the effects of CEOs’ personal values on the environmental sustainability of companies, focusing on a diverse array of environmental practices and policies implemented by corporations. The practical implications of our findings highlight the importance of aligning CEO recruitment with corporate sustainability goals.