CEO Power and Corporate Environmental Sustainability: An Examination of Waste Management Practices

ABSTRACT This paper explores the influence of chief executive officer (CEO) power on corporate environmental sustainability through the lens of waste management, an underexplored yet critical aspect of environmental sustainability. Drawing on the approach–inhibition theory of power, we argue that powerful CEOs are more likely to engage in risk‐taking behavior and exercise greater control over resources. Therefore, they may prioritize short‐term profits over long‐term sustainability. Using data from listed companies across 37 countries over the year 2002–2019, we find that high CEO power is positively linked with waste generation, implying that firms with powerful CEOs tend to produce more waste. Further analysis indicates that this relationship is stronger for firms in environmentally nonsensitive industries, in common‐law countries, and with low governance quality. Our findings are robust to alternative estimations, cross‐sectional analyses, variable measurements, and endogeneity tests. These results offer valuable insights into how CEO power shapes environmental sustainability, guiding regulators, stakeholders, and policymakers in assessing the impact of powerful CEOs on sustainability outcomes.