Corporate Accountability Towards Species Extinction Protection: Insights from Ecologically Forward-Thinking Companies
研究了200家全球大公司在物种保护方面的责任，发现生态意识强的公司更可能进行外部保证、有良好环境绩效、与负责任组织合作并获得可持续发展奖项，对政策制定者和金融市场监管者有参考价值。
This paper contributes to biodiversity and species extinction literature by examining the relationship between corporate accountability in terms of species protection and factors affecting such accountability from forward-thinking companies. We use triangulation of theories, namely deep ecology, legitimacy, and we introduce a new perspective to the stakeholder theory that considers species as a 'stakeholder'. Using Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood (PPML) regression, we examine a sample of 200 Fortune Global companies over 3 years. Our results indicate significant positive relations between ecologically conscious companies that are accountable for the protection of biodiversity and species extinction and external assurance, environmental performance, partnerships with socially responsible organizations and awards for sustainable activities. Our empirical results appear to be robust in controlling for possible endogeneities. Our findings contribute to the discussion on the concern of species loss and habitat destruction in the context of corporate accountability, especially in responding to the sixth mass extinction event and COVID-19 crisis. Our results can also guide the policymakers and stakeholders of the financial market in better decision making.