Board gender diversity and ESG disclosure: Evidence from the US

Rey Dang (1) , Maria Giuseppina Bruna (2) , L'Hocine Houanti (3) , Riadh Manita (4)

1 ICN Business School
2 DRM - Dauphine Recherches en Management
3 Sup de Co La Rochelle - Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de la Rochelle
4 Pôle Finance Responsable - Rouen Business School

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between corporate debt-like compensation and the value of excess cash holdings. Design/methodology/approach The environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure score provided by Bloomberg is used as a proxy for the extent of corporate social responsibility (CSR). The empirical analysis is based on a sample of 379 firms that made up the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index over the period 2010-2015. In order to take into account the endogeneity problem between board gender diversity and ESG disclosure, a fixed effect model with lagged board variables is used. Findings Two main results arise from this study. First, no significant relationship is found between board gender diversity and ESG disclosure. Second, the evidence also partially confirms critical mass theory, as below three female directors the relationship between board gender diversity and ESG disclosure is not statistically significant. However, beyond that, no significant relationship was found.

Mots clés: social and governance disclosure; Environmental; Board gender diversity; Stakeholder theory; Corporate social responsibility

Domaines: Gestion et management

Rey Dang, Maria Giuseppina Bruna, L'Hocine Houanti, Riadh Manita. Board gender diversity and ESG disclosure: Evidence from the US. Journal of applied accounting research, 2018, 19 (2), pp.206-224. ⟨10.1108/JAAR-01-2017-0024⟩. ⟨hal-01847924⟩