Managerial discretion and corporate commitment to the natural environment

摘要

This article considers possible associations between executive discretion and corporate environmental commitment, developing competing hypotheses from two alternative approaches: the "managerial" view and the "inertial" view. Results from a sample of 105 firms showed that their environmental commitment associates with specific executives being responsible for environmental matters. In addition, superior environmental commitment appeared to be linked with these executives having high levels of managerial discretion as members of their firms' dominant coalitions. Our research supports the central role of executives in order to improve corporate environmental commitment.