Abstract

Purpose – This paper aims to report the results of an investigation into the relationship between
corporate boards and the likelihood of a firm being convicted of an environmental offence in the United
Kingdom (UK).
Design/methodology/approach – The study uses binary logistics regression analysis to model the
relationship between corporate boards and the likelihood of a firm being convicted of an environmental
offence in the UK, controlling for firm size, financial leverage and profitability.
Findings – The results suggest that the likelihood of a firm being convicted of an environmental offence
increases with board size but decreases with the presence of a woman on the board. No support is
found for the authors’ hypotheses about the proportion of outside directors and the presence of a lawyer
on the board. Marginal effects’ results also show that adding one member to the board increases the
chance of a firm being convicted for an environmental offence by 4.2 per cent, while having a woman on
the board decreases the likelihood of a firm being convicted of an environmental offence by 31.8
per cent.
Research limitations/implications – The sample size of 55 firms is small which could affect the
generalisability of the study.
Originality/value – The study uses proprietary data obtained from the UK Environmental Agency to
provide evidence for the first time how corporate boards affect the chances of a listed firm being
convicted of an environmental offence in the UK.