Does a CEO's Network Capital Affect Workplace Safety?

Abstract

We examine the effect of a CEO's network capital on a firm's workplace safety, using establishment-level data compiled by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on the incidents of workplace injuries. We find that higher network capital of CEOs is associated with significantly lower workplace injury rates. Our findings are robust to alternate proxies, matching techniques, instrumental variable regression, and difference-in-differences analysis. The possible channels through which CEO network capital improves a firm's workplace safety are better workplace safety spending and information quality.