The impact of CEO age on a firm’s choice of global reporting initiative: moderating role of board social capital

Purpose This study aims to explore the impact of the chief executive officer’s (CEO) age on adopting global reporting initiative (GRI) framework for corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting. It also underlines how board social capital moderates the relationship between CEO age and the adoption of the GRI framework. Design/methodology/approach Chinese A-listed companies during 2010–2018 were used. The authors applied a logistic regression model due to the binary nature of the dependent variable. For robustness, two-step generalized method of moments (GMM) and lagged independent variables are used. Findings The study finds that CEO age negatively impacts the firm’s choice of GRI reporting framework. The social capital of the board positively moderates this relationship. This finding is based on the notion that as a CEO grows older or headed toward retirement age, his/her interest in CSR diminishes due to a shorter career horizon. Boards with external links provide better advice on CSR issues and mitigate the negative impact of CEO age. Practical implications The study results are important for understanding the GRI framework’s development and implementation, particularly in China. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that deeply examines how CEO age affects GRI adoption in the Chinese context and how the board’s social capital moderates this relationship.