The presence and composition of sustainability committee and waste management practices
研究了42个国家上市公司中可持续发展委员会的存在和构成对废物产生与回收的影响，发现委员会存在与废物产生正相关，但与废物回收无关；委员会规模大和性别多元化减少废物产生，而任期长和独立性强则增加废物产生。
Motivated by the recent surge in scholarly enquiries into the role of sustainability committees in corporate social responsibility, this study investigates the relevance of sustainability committees' presence and composition to waste management practices, which is still unknown in the literature. Based on a panel of firms listed in 42 countries from 2002 to 2019, we document a positively significant (insignificant) relationship between the presence of a sustainability committee and waste generation (waste recycling). In terms of the composition, we find that firms with large committee size and gender diversity (committee tenure and independence) generate less (more) waste. Our analysis also indicates that firms with gender-diverse committees are more likely to recycle their waste. Our findings are robust to alternative estimation techniques and variable specifications, sub-sample analyses, and different identification strategies. This study provides new insights into the structure of the sustainability committee and informs stakeholders and regulators about impression management by firms across countries.