IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/bracre/v55y2023i1s0890838922000269.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Board gender composition and waste management: Cross-country evidence

Author

Listed:
  • Gull, Ammar Ali
  • Atif, Muhammad
  • Hussain, Nazim

Abstract

Extant literature on board gender diversity focuses on the main pillars of sustainability while ignoring the important subdimension – waste management. Using a sample of 8365 firm-year observations for the period 2002–2017 from 37 countries, we provide novel empirical evidence that board gender diversity significantly reduces (increases) waste generation (waste recycling) in firms. We also note that the impact is significant with two or more female directors and is primarily driven by female directors’ independence. Moreover, the relationship is moderated by the masculinity dimension of national culture and sustainable compensation policies. Our analysis also shows that waste management activities of gender-diverse boards accompany the better financial performance. Our findings are robust to several identification strategies and estimation techniques. Our study provides new insights into the governance–sustainability nexus and presents important policy implications for regulators across countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Gull, Ammar Ali & Atif, Muhammad & Hussain, Nazim, 2023. "Board gender composition and waste management: Cross-country evidence," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(1).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:bracre:v:55:y:2023:i:1:s0890838922000269
    DOI: 10.1016/j.bar.2022.101097
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0890838922000269
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.bar.2022.101097?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:eme:ijlma0:ijlma-05-2013-0021 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Ming Jia & Zhe Zhang, 2013. "Critical Mass of Women on BODs, Multiple Identities, and Corporate Philanthropic Disaster Response: Evidence from Privately Owned Chinese Firms," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 118(2), pages 303-317, December.
    3. Atif, Muhammad & Hossain, Mohammed & Alam, Md Samsul & Goergen, Marc, 2021. "Does board gender diversity affect renewable energy consumption?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    4. Kevin Campbell & Antonio Mínguez-Vera, 2008. "Gender Diversity in the Boardroom and Firm Financial Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 83(3), pages 435-451, December.
    5. Levi, Maurice & Li, Kai & Zhang, Feng, 2014. "Director gender and mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 185-200.
    6. Taïeb Hafsi & Gokhan Turgut, 2013. "Boardroom Diversity and its Effect on Social Performance: Conceptualization and Empirical Evidence," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 112(3), pages 463-479, February.
    7. Roman Lanis & Grant Richardson & Grantley Taylor, 2017. "Board of Director Gender and Corporate Tax Aggressiveness: An Empirical Analysis," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 144(3), pages 577-596, September.
    8. Nazim Hussain & Ugo Rigoni & Elisa Cavezzali, 2018. "Does it pay to be sustainable? Looking inside the black box of the relationship between sustainability performance and financial performance," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(6), pages 1198-1211, November.
    9. Amama Shaukat & Yan Qiu & Grzegorz Trojanowski, 2016. "Board Attributes, Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy, and Corporate Environmental and Social Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 135(3), pages 569-585, May.
    10. Owen, Ann L. & Temesvary, Judit, 2018. "The performance effects of gender diversity on bank boards," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 50-63.
    11. Muhammad Ali & Yin Ng & Carol Kulik, 2014. "Board Age and Gender Diversity: A Test of Competing Linear and Curvilinear Predictions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 125(3), pages 497-512, December.
    12. Haque, Faizul, 2017. "The effects of board characteristics and sustainable compensation policy on carbon performance of UK firms," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 347-364.
    13. Haque, Faizul & Jones, Michael John, 2020. "European firms’ corporate biodiversity disclosures and board gender diversity from 2002 to 2016," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(2).
    14. Renée B. Adams & Patricia Funk, 2012. "Beyond the Glass Ceiling: Does Gender Matter?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(2), pages 219-235, February.
    15. Jose-Manuel Prado-Lorenzo & Isabel-Maria Garcia-Sanchez, 2010. "The Role of the Board of Directors in Disseminating Relevant Information on Greenhouse Gases," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 97(3), pages 391-424, December.
    16. Muhammad Atif & Searat Ali, 2021. "Environmental, social and governance disclosure and default risk," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(8), pages 3937-3959, December.
    17. Ioanna Boulouta, 2013. "Hidden Connections: The Link Between Board Gender Diversity and Corporate Social Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 113(2), pages 185-197, March.
    18. García Lara, Juan Manuel & García Osma, Beatriz & Mora, Araceli & Scapin, Mariano, 2017. "The monitoring role of female directors over accounting quality," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 651-668.
    19. Nabil Ibrahim & John Angelidis & Igor Tomic, 2009. "Managers’ Attitudes Toward Codes of Ethics: Are There Gender Differences?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 90(3), pages 343-353, December.
    20. Ammar Ali Gull & Muhammad Atif & Ayman Issa & Muhammad Usman & Muhammad Abubakkar Siddique, 2021. "Female CEO succession and audit fees: evidence from China," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 36(3), pages 485-509, June.
    21. Chen, Jie & Leung, Woon Sau & Goergen, Marc, 2017. "The impact of board gender composition on dividend payouts," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 86-105.
    22. Muhammad Atif & Benjamin Liu & Sivathaasan Nadarajah, 2022. "The effect of corporate environmental, social and governance disclosure on cash holdings: Life‐cycle perspective," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 2193-2212, July.
    23. Mohammed Hossain & Muhammad Atif & Ammad Ahmed & Lokman Mia, 2020. "Do LGBT Workplace Diversity Policies Create Value for Firms?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 167(4), pages 775-791, December.
    24. Muhammad Atif & Md. Samsul Alam & Mohammed Hossain, 2020. "Firm sustainable investment: Are female directors greener?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3449-3469, December.
    25. Al-Shaer, Habiba & Zaman, Mahbub, 2016. "Board gender diversity and sustainability reporting quality," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 210-222.
    26. Samuel Jebaraj Benjamin & Dereje Getachew Regasa & Nirosha Hewa Wellalage & M Srikamalaladevi M Marathamuthu, 2020. "Waste disclosure and corporate cash holdings," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(49), pages 5399-5412, October.
    27. Ammad Ahmed & Muhammad Atif, 2021. "Board gender composition and debt financing," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(2), pages 3075-3092, April.
    28. Liu, Yu & Wei, Zuobao & Xie, Feixue, 2014. "Do women directors improve firm performance in China?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 169-184.
    29. Zaman, Rashid & Atawnah, Nader & Baghdadi, Ghasan A. & Liu, Jia, 2021. "Fiduciary duty or loyalty? Evidence from co-opted boards and corporate misconduct," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    30. Mariateresa Torchia & Andrea Calabrò & Morten Huse, 2011. "Women Directors on Corporate Boards: From Tokenism to Critical Mass," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 102(2), pages 299-317, August.
    31. Adams, Renée B. & Ferreira, Daniel, 2009. "Women in the boardroom and their impact on governance and performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(2), pages 291-309, November.
    32. Ammad Ahmed & Muhammad Atif & Ernest Gyapong, 2021. "Boardroom gender diversity and CEO pay deviation: Australian evidence," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(2), pages 3135-3170, June.
    33. Mehdi Nekhili & Ammar Ali Gull & Tawhid Chtioui & Ikram Radhouane, 2020. "Gender‐diverse boards and audit fees: What difference does gender quota legislation make?," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(1-2), pages 52-99, January.
    34. Nekhili, Mehdi & Nagati, Haithem & Chtioui, Tawhid & Nekhili, Ali, 2017. "Gender-diverse board and the relevance of voluntary CSR reporting," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 81-100.
    35. Judith L. Walls & Pascual Berrone & Phillip H. Phan, 2012. "Corporate governance and environmental performance: is there really a link?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(8), pages 885-913, August.
    36. Gull, Ammar Ali & Nekhili, Mehdi & Nagati, Haithem & Chtioui, Tawhid, 2018. "Beyond gender diversity: How specific attributes of female directors affect earnings management," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 255-274.
    37. Chen, Jie & Leung, Woon Sau & Song, Wei & Goergen, Marc, 2019. "Why female board representation matters: The role of female directors in reducing male CEO overconfidence," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 70-90.
    38. Charles W. L. Hill & Thomas M. Jones, 1992. "Stakeholder‐Agency Theory," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 131-154, March.
    39. McGuinness, Paul B. & Vieito, João Paulo & Wang, Mingzhu, 2017. "The role of board gender and foreign ownership in the CSR performance of Chinese listed firms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 75-99.
    40. Lorenzo Ardito & Rosa Maria Dangelico & Antonio Messeni Petruzzelli, 2021. "The link between female representation in the boards of directors and corporate social responsibility: Evidence from B corps," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(2), pages 704-720, March.
    41. Gull, Ammar Ali & Nekhili, Mehdi & Nagati, Haithem & Chtioui, Tawhid, 2018. "Beyond gender diversity: How specific attributes of female directors affect earnings management," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 255-274.
    42. Nekhili, Mehdi & Nagati, Haithem & Chtioui, Tawhid & Nekhili, Ali, 2017. "Gender-diverse board and the relevance of voluntary CSR reporting," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 81-100.
    43. Alam, Md. Samsul & Atif, Muhammad & Chien-Chi, Chu & Soytaş, Uğur, 2019. "Does corporate R&D investment affect firm environmental performance? Evidence from G-6 countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 401-411.
    44. Stephen Bear & Noushi Rahman & Corinne Post, 2010. "The Impact of Board Diversity and Gender Composition on Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Reputation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 97(2), pages 207-221, December.
    45. Peter Tashman & Valentina Marano & Tatiana Kostova, 2019. "Walking the walk or talking the talk? Corporate social responsibility decoupling in emerging market multinationals," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 50(2), pages 153-171, March.
    46. Liu, Chelsea, 2018. "Are women greener? Corporate gender diversity and environmental violations," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 118-142.
    47. repec:eme:maj000:maj-09-2020-2824 is not listed on IDEAS
    48. Muhammad Atif & Benjamin Liu & Allen Huang, 2019. "Does board gender diversity affect corporate cash holdings?," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(7-8), pages 1003-1029, July.
    49. Liao, Lin & Luo, Le & Tang, Qingliang, 2015. "Gender diversity, board independence, environmental committee and greenhouse gas disclosure," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 409-424.
    50. Helen Kang & Mandy Cheng & Sidney J. Gray, 2007. "Corporate Governance and Board Composition: diversity and independence of Australian boards," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(2), pages 194-207, March.
    51. Rachel Croson & Uri Gneezy, 2009. "Gender Differences in Preferences," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(2), pages 448-474, June.
    52. Timo Busch & Stefan Lewandowski, 2018. "Corporate Carbon and Financial Performance: A Meta‐analysis," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 22(4), pages 745-759, August.
    53. Niclas L. Erhardt & James D. Werbel & Charles B. Shrader, 2003. "Board of Director Diversity and Firm Financial Performance," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(2), pages 102-111, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Atif, Muhammad & Hossain, Mohammed & Alam, Md Samsul & Goergen, Marc, 2021. "Does board gender diversity affect renewable energy consumption?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    2. Kara, Alper & Nanteza, Aziidah & Ozkan, Aydin & Yildiz, Yilmaz, 2022. "Board gender diversity and responsible banking during the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    3. Nguyen, Thi Hong Hanh & Ntim, Collins G. & Malagila, John K., 2020. "Women on corporate boards and corporate financial and non-financial performance: A systematic literature review and future research agenda," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    4. Liu, Chelsea, 2021. "CEO gender and employee relations: Evidence from labor lawsuits," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    5. María‐Florencia Amorelli & Isabel‐María García‐Sánchez, 2021. "Trends in the dynamic evolution of board gender diversity and corporate social responsibility," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(2), pages 537-554, March.
    6. Ayman Issa & Mohammad A. A. Zaid & Jalal Rajeh Hanaysha, 2022. "Exploring the relationship between female director's profile and sustainability performance: Evidence from the Middle East," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(6), pages 1980-2002, September.
    7. Paul B. McGuinness & João Paulo Vieito & Mingzhu Wang, 2020. "Proactive government intervention, board gender balance, and stakeholder engagement in China and Europe," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 37(3), pages 719-762, September.
    8. Tantawy Moussa & Amir Allam & Mahmoud Elmarzouky, 2023. "An examination of UK companies' modern slavery disclosure practices: Does board gender diversity matter?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(8), pages 5382-5402, December.
    9. Muhammad Atif & Md. Samsul Alam & Mohammed Hossain, 2020. "Firm sustainable investment: Are female directors greener?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3449-3469, December.
    10. Liu, Chelsea, 2018. "Are women greener? Corporate gender diversity and environmental violations," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 118-142.
    11. Saif Rehman & René Orij & Hashim Khan, 2020. "The search for alignment of board gender diversity, the adoption of environmental management systems, and the association with firm performance in Asian firms," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(5), pages 2161-2175, September.
    12. Gull, Ammar Ali & Atif, Muhammad & Ahsan, Tanveer & Derouiche, Imen, 2022. "Does waste management affect firm performance? International evidence," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    13. Muhammad Nadeem & Ernest Gyapong & Ammad Ahmed, 2020. "Board gender diversity and environmental, social, and economic value creation: Does family ownership matter?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 1268-1284, March.
    14. Saeed, Abubakr & Riaz, Hammad & Liedong, Tahiru Azaaviele & Rajwani, Tazeeb, 2022. "The impact of TMT gender diversity on corporate environmental strategy in emerging economies," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 536-551.
    15. Shubham Singhania & Jagvinder Singh & Deepti Aggrawal, 2023. "Gender diversity on board and corporate sustainability: a quantitative review based on bibliometric mapping," International Journal of System Assurance Engineering and Management, Springer;The Society for Reliability, Engineering Quality and Operations Management (SREQOM),India, and Division of Operation and Maintenance, Lulea University of Technology, Sweden, vol. 14(1), pages 267-286, February.
    16. Samuel Benjamin & Mansi Mansi & Rakesh Pandey, 2020. "Board gender composition, board independence and sustainable supply chain responsibility," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 60(4), pages 3305-3339, December.
    17. Muhammad Nadeem, 2022. "Board Gender Diversity and Managerial Obfuscation: Evidence from the Readability of Narrative Disclosure in 10-K Reports," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 179(1), pages 153-177, August.
    18. Wang, Yun & Wilson, Craig & Li, Yanxi, 2021. "Gender attitudes and the effect of board gender diversity on corporate environmental responsibility," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).
    19. Konadu, Renata & Ahinful, Gabriel Sam & Boakye, Danquah Jeff & Elbardan, Hany, 2022. "Board gender diversity, environmental innovation and corporate carbon emissions," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    20. Lu, Yun & Ntim, Collins G. & Zhang, Qingjing & Li, Pingli, 2022. "Board of directors’ attributes and corporate outcomes: A systematic literature review and future research agenda," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Corporate governance; Waste management; Gender diversity; Environmental protection;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:bracre:v:55:y:2023:i:1:s0890838922000269. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/the-british-accounting-review .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.