How “Ceremonial Openness” Reproduces Inertia: An Analysis of Earnings Calls in the Oil and Gas Industry

• In Event: Green Criminology V: Environment and Corporations

Abstract

Incumbent firms often resist reform, as they have much to lose if things go wrong. But inertia can also be costly, particularly in times of crisis. In a world on fire, does corporate transparency foster engagement with external threats to future organizational success? To answer this question, we conduct a mixed-methods analysis of 887 public earnings-calls meetings between executives, investors, and outside analysts from twenty-four (24) major oil and gas companies in 2007-2020--a period marked by extreme weather events and increased popular and political pressure to slow global warming. We find that formal rituals that ostensibly promote openness and debate to protect investors reproduce the status quo by cultivating narratives that deny the need for change.

Authors

• Isak Ladegaard, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

• Annika Rieger, Singapore Management University