CEO duality and corporate waste management: The moderating role of CSR committees in U.S. firms

Despite growing attention to environmental governance, limited research has examined how corporate leadership structures influence waste management outcomes. This study investigates the effect of CEO duality on corporate waste management (WMG) performance in publicly listed U.S. firms and examines whether CSR committees (CSRCOM) moderate this relationship over the period 2010–2023. Using 2,176 firm-year observations and controlling for firm- and board-level characteristics, we find that CEO duality is associated with higher waste generation and lower recycling rates, suggesting weaker waste management performance. However, the presence of CSRCOM mitigates these adverse effects, indicating that CSR-oriented board oversight can serve as an effective counterbalance to governance. These findings remain robust across alternative model specifications and endogeneity tests. This study contributes to the environmental governance literature by advancing understanding of how board leadership structures shape environmental outcomes and by identifying CSR committees as an important moderating mechanism that enhances corporate waste management performance.