CEO Career Horizon and Corporate Social Responsibility Assurance

Abstract

ABSTRACT Framing on the premise of upper echelons theory, this study explores the relationship between a chief executive officer’s career horizon and corporate social responsibility assurance in an emerging market. Using a 9-year (2010–2018) unique sample of A-share listed firms in China, we found that the chief executive officer’s age is an important determinant of corporate social responsibility assurance and is significantly negatively associated with corporate social responsibility assurance, indicating that the chief executive officer’s age increase experienced a significant decline in corporate social responsibility assurance. These findings are consistent with our expectation that as CEOs grow older their rigidity increase with their age and this cause to decrease their interest to engage in corporate social responsibility assurance. Further, the negative relationship between the chief executive officer’s age and corporate social responsibility assurance is significantly positively moderated by both state-owned enterprises and heavily polluted firms. Our results contribute to the existing literature and have implications for potential policymakers.