Professors on the Board: Do They Contribute to Society Outside the Classroom?

Abstract

This is the accepted version of the paper.This version of the publication may differ from the final published version. Permanent repository link ABSTRACTAccording to our data, 38.5% of S&P 1500 firms have at least one professor on their boards. Given the lack of research examining the roles and effects of academic faculty as members of boards of directors (professor-directors) on corporate outcomes, this study investigates whether firms with professor-directors are more likely to exhibit higher corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance ratings. Results indicate that firms with professor-directors do exhibit higher CSR performance ratings than those without. However, the influence of professor-directors on firm CSR performance ratings depends on their academic background-the positive association between the presence of professor-directors and firm CSR performance ratings is significant only when their academic background is specialized (e.g., science, engineering and medicine). Finally, this positive association weakens when professor-directors hold an administrative position at their universities.

Independent directors' background and CSR disclosure

“…Cho, Jung, Kwak, Lee, and Yoo (2017) stated that, according to the extant literature, it is the former that influences corporate social performance the most, but they claim that the latter is also important and they study the potential impact of professor directors and their academic background. First, attention is drawn to board independence, given its relevance for the issue addressed here.…”

“…education, experience, and profession). Cho, Jung, Kwak, Lee, and Yoo (2017) stated that, according to the extant literature, it is the former that influences corporate social performance the most, but they claim that the latter is also important and they study the potential impact of professor directors and their academic background. Our focus is also upon two aspects of occupational diversity: a political background, which is especially important in contexts like Spain where around half of listed firms have at least one ex-politician on the board (Guerra-Pérez, Bona, & Santana, 2015); and an educational background, with special attention on the nature rather than the level of education received by directors.…”

Managerial academic experience, external monitoring and financial reporting quality

“…We thus answer to Hambrick's () call for more research on the upper echelons of the corporate hierarchy. Our study also contributes to the stream of research investigating the relationship between academics serving on corporate boards and corporate performance (e.g., Cho, Jung, Kwak, Lee, & Yoo, ; Francis, Hasan, & Wu, ; Jiang & Murphy, ; Trainor & Finnegan, ). The principal difference between these studies and ours is that board membership is a part‐time job, which does not directly involve the day‐to‐day running of the business.…”

Sustainable Board of Directors: Evidence from the Research Productivity of Professors Serving on Boards in the Korean Market

“…The sample selection and variable construction criteria used in this study were largely based on recent studies of corporate governance issues in the Korean market, such as those of Cho et al [21] and Liu et al [22]. Our sample included financial firms listed on the Korean Exchange (KRX) from 2011 to 2015.…”