Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow: CEO Temporal Focus and Firms’ ESG Investments

Abstract As CEOs play pivotal roles in shaping environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investment strategies, existing studies have explored the influence of CEOs’ demographic and professional traits while acknowledging the impact of their cognitive characteristics. However, an overlooked aspect in these investigations is the role of CEOs’ time perspective. To address these gaps, this study investigates the relationship between CEOs’ temporal focus, a key executive perception in strategic contexts, and three dimensions across ESG investments. Utilizing data of Chinese listed firms between 2009 and 2021, we find that CEOs with past-oriented or present-oriented temporal focus exert suppressive effects on environmental and social investments, whereas CEOs with future-oriented temporal focus significantly enhance such sustainability initiatives. Present-focused CEOs are more likely to champion governance investments while both past-focused and future-focused tend to restrict them. Notably, these relationships are further moderated by CEO wealth sensitivity. Our findings illuminate the considerable influence of executive temporal perceptions on ESG investment heterogeneity, offering valuable implications for both research and practice.