Dr. Leanne Keddie
Assistant Professor, Carleton University
Expert in Sustainability Accounting and Corporate Governance. I study how executives get paid bonuses based on sustainability goals. I also examine the board of directors and institutional investors as they relate to sustainability/CSR issues. My recent work examines food waste in the circular economy and how accounting plays a role.
CSR, executive compensation, sustainability, institutional investors, ESG, bonus plans, sustainability, corporate governance, boards of directors, compensation committees, circular economy, food waste.
Media
Leanne Keddie, Public Scholar
A brief video highlighting Leanne Keddie's research into corporate social responsibility bonuses in senior executive bonus plans.
The time is now for companies to emphasize sustainability
The Montreal Gazette, March 6, 2018Print
URL: http://montrealgazette.com/opinion/opinion-the-time-is-now-for-companies-to-emphasize-sustainability
How can a corporation make a profit and protect the planet? Must these interests really conflict?
What is sustainability accounting? What does ESG mean? We have answers
The Conversation, February 2, 2021Online
TC Energy decarbonization response to Keystone setback unlikely to sway ESG investors
The Canadian Press/The Financial Post, January 19, 2021Online
Quoted on the influence of institutional investors on firms and ESG investing growth.
Geographical diversity among directors and corporate social responsibility
by Firoozi, M., & Keddie, L.
Published by British Journal of Management
January 1, 2022
Previous research documents the importance of board of directors’ characteristics in affecting corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance. We extend this literature by focusing on one attribute of the members of the board of directors, their place of residence and its impact on CSR performance (CSRP), which has not been previously investigated. This dimension is important since there is an increasing trend in nominating directors who live far from corporate headquarters. We rely on stakeholder theory and image motivation to explain this relationship. Using a sample of Canadian firms from 2009 to 2017, we find that geographical diversity among the board of directors has a positive impact on some dimensions of CSR. In addition, our results show that the improvement in CSRP is not value destructive. Our results extend the literature on demographic characteristics of directors and its impact on directors’ decision-making about CSR.
URL: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1467-8551.12481
(Non) coverage of sustainability within the French professional accounting education program
by Boulianne, E., Keddie, S.L., Postaire, M.
Published by Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal
June 15, 2018
This study seeks to identify how professional accountants in France are educated in sustainability; we examine the French accounting programs in regard to sustainability accounting education recommendations. We note an interesting paradox in the French context: while the government requires the reporting and auditing of corporate sustainability information, we find that sustainability is not greatly present in the government-funded French accounting education program. We determine that the government’s power in setting the education agenda combined with its budget restrictions and ability to defer responsibility to other parties has resulted in this paradox in the French setting.
URL: https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/SAMPJ-09-2017-0119?journalCode=sampj
Where is Sustainability within the Canadian CPA Education Program?
by Boulianne, Emilio & Keddie, S. Leanne
Published by Advances in Environmental Accounting & Management, Volume 7, p. 71-112
April 1, 2018
This study explores how Canadian CPAs (Chartered Professional Accountants) are trained in sustainability. The main research questions are: What place should sustainability take in the accounting program? What place does sustainability occupy in the CPA accounting program? And, over time, has sustainability gained or lost ground within the Canadian professional accounting education program?
URL: https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/S1479-359820180000007004
Biography
Leanne Keddie obtained her undergraduate degree in Business from Mount Allison University, her Master in Business Administration (MBA) from McMaster University. She is also a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CMA). She completed her PhD in Accounting at Concordia University and currently works as an Assistant Professor of Accounting at Carleton University.
Her current research examines the use of environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance-based goals in executive bonus plans. In addition, Dr. Keddie is exploring the role of accounting in the circular economy, particularly as it relates to measuring, reducing and redirecting food waste. Broadly, her sustainability accounting research is of interest to a variety of stakeholders including management, shareholders, regulators, and standard setters as interest continues to grow in social and environmental matters. She believes in the power of accounting to move the world towards sustainability.
Recognition/Reconnaissance
Bertram Scholar | Professional
Awarded by the Canadian Foundation for Governance Research
Public Scholar | Professional
2017-2018
Additional Titles and Affiliations
MBA
CPA, CMA
Research Grants
Waste? Know More! Igniting behaviours for circularity in the food supply chain
Organization: SSHRC Ideas LabDate: March 15, 2022
Grant amount: 234045
SustainableAccountingandFinanceConference
Organization: SSHRC Connections GrantDate: January 1, 2022
Grant amount: 25000
Can Corporate Social Responsibility performance-based incentives contribute to greenhouse gas emission reduction?
Organization: SSHRC Insight Development GrantDate: June 1, 2021
Grant amount: 71940