The Influence of Corporate Governance on the Sustainability of American Company Buildings

Abstract

Sustainable buildings are a requirement outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals to protect people and the environment. In this sense, companies within their corporate social responsibility actions should promote the construction of green buildings or the adaptation of old buildings to new sustainability standards. It is precisely corporate governance that establishes companies’ strategies and lines of action. Thus, this chapter aims to explore the relationship between the composition and characteristics of the board of directors and companies’ adoption of green buildings. For this purpose, in the period 2011–2019, the American S&P 500 index companies were analyzed, applying multivariate logistic regression with panel data. The results showed that companies are more likely to have sustainable buildings when the percentage of women on the board of directors, director compensation and tenure, number of board meetings, and board size increase. On the other hand, the percentage of board members with a financial or industry background, the rate of non-executive directors, the CEO-Chairperson duality, and the Chairman being a former CEO did not show a significant relationship with the probability of green buildings.