Betydelsen av VD:ns incitamentsprogram för företagets hållbarhetsprestanda.

Sammanfattning: Today there are requirements for large companies in Sweden to draw up sustainability reports to demonstrate their responsibility towards society and the environment. To achieve successful sustainability work, activities must be applied at all levels of the company. The company's CEO, who acts on behalf of the company's board and is responsible for the day-to-day management, is therefore assigned for the company's sustainability work. The CEO's incentive program has traditionally been characterized by financial goals, today the incentive programs also include sustainability goals. CEO salaries have increased in recent years, which has raised skepticism among the company's stakeholders regarding the effect of sustainability goals in the incentive programs. The purpose of the essay is to investigate which compensation and whether the presence of sustainability goals in the CEO's incentive program relate to the company's sustainability performance. To investigate this, a quantitative method has been applied where a regression analysis has been carried out. The essay's selection includes Swedish listed companies on the lists Mid Cap and Large Cap. The results show that the basic salary and the presence of specific sustainability goals relate positively to the company's sustainability performance. Based on the results, the incentive programs for the CEO may need to be reconstructed to achieve increased sustainability performance.