Do CEO overconfidence and narcissism affect corporate social responsibility in the UK listed companies? The moderating role of corporate governance
ISSN: 1746-5680
Article publication date: 8 February 2021
Issue publication date: 4 August 2021
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the effect of two CEO characteristics, namely, narcissism and overconfidence on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the moderating effect of corporate governance (CG) mechanisms in the UK.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a sample of 2,360 UK firms listed on the FTSE 400 index for the years 2010–2017, the feasible generalized least squares method was applied to test the hypotheses developed.
Findings
The finding argues that CEO narcissism and overconfidence positively affect CSR. In addition, this paper found that CG effectiveness moderates the CEO’s CSR behavior.
Research limitations/implications
This research is subjected to two limitations. First, this study used different measures to proxy for CEO narcissism and overconfidence. However, other measures are not included owing to the difficulty to collect data regarding these measures. Second, this study includes only CSR performance instead of all other dimensions and categories of CSR. These limitations do not change the conclusions of this research, and they may provide guidance for further investigations.
Practical implications
Given that the CEOs psychological and behavioral features are critical in understanding CSR, shareholders and boards of directors should incorporate the behavioral aspects of narcissistic and overconfident CEOs in the design of CSR strategy.
Originality/value
This study emphasizes the importance of top executives’ psychological characteristics for CSR, which is a key application and complements the “upper echelons theory” and fills the research gap in the literature. This is one of the few studies that investigate the interaction between CG, CEO profile and CSR.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The results of this study may help researchers to analyze and explain how CG, especially the ownership structure and the board of directors, has a significant and moderating role in the relationship between CSR and CEO personal traits.
Citation
Bouzouitina, A., Khaireddine, M. and Jarboui, A. (2021), "Do CEO overconfidence and narcissism affect corporate social responsibility in the UK listed companies? The moderating role of corporate governance", Society and Business Review, Vol. 16 No. 2, pp. 156-183. https://doi.org/10.1108/SBR-07-2020-0091
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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