Chief Executive Officer power and Corporate Sexual Orientation Equality

We examine the role of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) power in Corporate Sexual Orientation Equality (CSOE), measured by corporate support for employees with alternate sexual orientations (i.e., Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer – LGBTQ). We find that CEO power is an obstacle to promoting CSOE. Our finding is robust to different model specifications and a battery of endogeneity checks. In the cross-section, we find that the negative association between CEO power and CSOE is more (less) pronounced for firms with weaker (stronger) external monitoring, with a lower (higher) level of transparency, and those located in a more (less) religious county. We also find evidence that the financial market appreciates it when powerful CEOs are less engaged in possibly controversial promotional activities, such as LGBTQ-friendliness. •CEO power hinders Corporate Sexual Orientation Equality.•More prominent for firms with weaker monitoring.•More prominent for firms in more religious locations.•Firms are not punished in the market for such actions.•CEO orients toward powerful stakeholders to stay in power.