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Shows that more masculine CEOs enhance ESG performance, suggesting new insights into executive qualities.
Purpose Given the scarcity of empirical studies exploring the relationship between CEO characteristics and Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) performance, this research aims to investigate whether the CEO facial masculinity affects the ESG performance. Design/methodology/approach To achieve our purpose, we selected non-financial firms listed on the Canadian S&P/TSX Composite index spanning an 11-year period from 2012 to 2022. CSR performance is proxied by ESG score. By utilizing the ImageJ software, we calculated the facial width-to-height ratio as a measure of CEO facial masculinity. Data collection was derived from several sources, including annual reports, the Datastream database and other online sources. A multiple regression model, including industry and year fixed effects, was estimated using STATA software. Findings The findings reveal that the greater the CEO facial masculinity, the more likely he is to encourage CSR initiatives in his company. This supports the predictions of the upper echelon theory which posits that the demographic, psychological and biological traits of top executives influence firm decisions and outcomes. It suggests that implementing CSR within a company is a strategic decision made by risk-tolerant and competitively aggressive CEOs in order to achieve the objectives of the company, penetrate new markets and capitalize on opportunities for positive outcomes. Originality/value This study contributes to the existing literature on the impact of CEO attributes on ESG performance by examining a new CEO biological characteristic, facial masculinity, in the Canadian context.
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Mahfoudh et al. (2026) studied this question.
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