Non-state climate governance, corporate leadership, and governance performance: evidence from the US electric utility sector

Abstract

COP26 highlighted near-term emissions reductions in addition to longer-term net-zero. At the same time, shifts in political landscapes around the world have furthered the salience of climate action led by non-state actors such as business interests, civil society and nonprofits, and local and regional communities. Despite the promise, performance of non-state climate action remains unclear and requires further empirical validation. The current study focuses on corporate entities and explores the potential effect of corporate leadership on climate governance performance. Our aim is to advance the literature on non-state climate governance by offering empirical evidence of the less-studied effectiveness of non-state climate governance leadership. Echoing previous research, our study identifies a contingent perspective on the effect of corporate leadership on climate governance performance. Specifically, through the context of utilities’ energy efficiency programming in the U.S. and a multilevel research design, we find suggestive evidence that when the moderating effect of citizens’ support is considered, corporate leadership could potentially positively affect climate governance performance. Additionally, we demonstrate that a climate governance system’s operational uncertainty can complicate the effect of corporate leadership on performance whereas a pro-environmental citizenry can enhance such effect.

Corporate Leadership in Agricultural Advancements: Exploratory Evaluation of Performance of Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO)

“…Corporate leadership sets strategic direction, clarifies goals, ensures critical human capital availability, facilitates financial resource acquisition, manages conflicts and change, coordinates periodic reviews of policies and strategies, and promotes an ethical organizational culture. Ba (2022) defines corporate leadership as a systemic approach to policy and strategy development, organizational structuring, vision creation, resource allocation, and quality control. Pless et al (2021) emphasize the importance of effective leadership for resolving conflicts, carrying out policies, and bolstering strategic alliances.…”