CEO Characteristics and Governance Quality: Evidence From Europe

Leveraging a sample of European listed firms, we investigate whether CEO duality, CEO tenure, and CEO membership in the CSR board committee are associated with the quality of corporate social responsibility (CSR) governance. Our findings indicate that CEO duality is negatively associated with CSR governance quality, whereas CEO membership on the CSR board committee is positively associated with CSR governance quality.We also find that CEO tenure is associated with CSR governance quality, with a positive effect primarily in the early years of service, but not in the later stages of tenure. This study introduces a measure of CSR governance quality based on the CSR committee members’ characteristics and highlights the role of the CEO over the board attributes.