Corporate accountability towards species extinction protection: insights from ecologically forward-thinking companies

This paper contributes to biodiversity and species extinction literature by examining the relationship between corporate accountability in terms of species protection and factors affecting such accountability from forward-thinking companies. We use triangulation of theories, namely deep-ecology, legitimacy, and we introduce a new perspective to stakeholder theory that considers species as a ‘stakeholder’. Using Poisson pseudomaximum likelihood (PPML) regression, we examine a sample of 200 Fortune Global companies over three years. Our results indicate significant positive relations between ecologically conscious companies that are accountable for the protection of biodiversity and species extinction and external assurance, environmental performance, partnerships with socially responsible organisations and awards for sustainable activities. Our empirical results appear to be robust in controlling for possible endogeneities. Our findings contribute to the discussion on the concern of species loss and habitat destruction in the context of corporate accountability, especially in responding to the sixth mass extinction event and COVID-19 crisis. Our results can also guide the policymakers and stakeholders of the financial market in better decision making.