CEO Overconfidence and Voluntary Disclosure of Greenhouse Gas Emissions: With a Focus on the Role of Corporate Governance

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between overconfident CEOs, voluntary disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions and firm value, and whether corporate (internal and external) governance affects this association. Using logistic regression and a firm-fixed effect model, I analyzed a sample of voluntary disclosing firms with the fiscal year in December that are listed in the Korean stock market for the period from 2011 to 2019, measuring corporate governance based on female representation within boards and industry-level competition. As a result, this study finds that, on average, CEO overconfidence is positively related to voluntary disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, in firms with more female representation on boards, the positive relationship between CEO overconfidence, voluntary disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions, and firm value is more pronounced, implying that women directors effectively monitor overconfident CEOs. Similarly, this positive relationship is also strengthened according to the degree of industry-level competition, which indicates that the external governance role of competition can alleviate CEO overconfidence. This study is meaningful as the first study to examine the effect of voluntary greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions disclosure on investors’ valuation in the Korean capital market, taking the characteristics of managers and governance structure into account.