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The role of women on boards in corporate environmental strategy and financial performance: A global outlook

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  • Jun Xie
  • Wataru Nozawa
  • Shunsuke Managi

Abstract

This study examines the impact of board gender diversity on corporate environmental strategy and financial performance. Based on 12 corporate environmental policies in 3,389 firms worldwide, we identified four types of corporate environmental strategies by using the latent class regression model: an inactive strategy, a reactive strategy, a pollution prevention strategy, and a sustainable development strategy. The empirical evidence shows that women on boards (WoB) contribute to the promotion of proactive environmental strategies, including the pollution prevention strategy, which is found to bring about sustained competitive advantage in both short‐term and long‐term financial performance, and the sustainable development strategy, which is positively associated with long‐term financial performance. Following the natural resource‐based view of the firm, these findings indicate that WoB can be seen as a key resource in the organizational process, which provides a shared vision of the future and strong moral leadership to the top management team.

Suggested Citation

  • Jun Xie & Wataru Nozawa & Shunsuke Managi, 2020. "The role of women on boards in corporate environmental strategy and financial performance: A global outlook," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(5), pages 2044-2059, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:corsem:v:27:y:2020:i:5:p:2044-2059
    DOI: 10.1002/csr.1945
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    Cited by:

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    3. Nurshahirah Abd Majid & Amar Hisham Jaaffar & Raed Hussam Mansour Alzoubi, 2023. "The Impact of Women’s Role in Corporate Governance on Carbon Disclosure Performance: A Descriptive Study of Top 100 Global Energy Leaders," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 13(6), pages 404-417, November.
    4. Dorota Dobija & Claudia Arena & Łukasz Kozłowski & Joanna Krasodomska & Justyna Godawska, 2023. "Towards sustainable development: The role of directors' international orientation and their diversity for non‐financial disclosure," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(1), pages 66-90, January.
    5. Stefania Veltri & Romilda Mazzotta & Franco Ernesto Rubino, 2021. "Board diversity and corporate social performance: Does the family firm status matter?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(6), pages 1664-1679, November.
    6. Yang Liu & Muhammad Khalid Anser & Khalid Zaman, 2021. "Ecofeminism and Natural Resource Management: Justice Delayed, Justice Denied," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-21, June.
    7. María del Carmen Valls Martínez & Pedro Antonio Martín Cervantes & Salvador Cruz Rambaud, 2020. "Women on corporate boards and sustainable development in the American and European markets: Is there a limit to gender policies?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(6), pages 2642-2656, November.
    8. Pochara Arayakarnkul & Pattanaporn Chatjuthamard & Sirimon Treepongkaruna, 2022. "Board gender diversity, corporate social commitment and sustainability," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(5), pages 1706-1721, September.
    9. Niccolò Nirino & Enrico Battisti & Alberto Ferraris & Stefano Dell'Atti & Massimiliano Farina Briamonte, 2022. "How and when corporate social performance reduces firm risk? The moderating role of corporate governance," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(6), pages 1995-2005, November.
    10. Kenichi Yoshida & Kenichi Kurita & Shunsuke Managi, 2023. "Stakeholder engagement as a sustainable development strategy: Managerial entrenchment for cross‐shareholdings," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(1), pages 402-418, January.
    11. Duojun He & Shenggang Ren & Huixiang Zeng, 2022. "Environmental labeling certification and firm environmental and financial performance: A resource management perspective," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(3), pages 751-767, March.
    12. Pengyu Chen & Yuanyuan Hao, 2022. "Digital transformation and corporate environmental performance: The moderating role of board characteristics," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(5), pages 1757-1767, September.
    13. Xiangdan Piao & Xinxin Ma & Chi Zhang & Shunsuke Managi, 2020. "Impact of Gaps in the Educational Levels between Married Partners on Health and a Sustainable Lifestyle: Evidence from 32 Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-20, June.
    14. Yoshida, Kenichi & Iino, Yoshiaki & Managi, Shunsuke, 2022. "Do Japanese keiretsu promote better CSR activities?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 452-475.
    15. Usama Laique & Fahad Abdullah & Ijaz Ur Rehman & Bruno S. Sergi, 2023. "Two decades of research on board gender diversity and financial outcomes: Mapping heterogeneity and future research agenda," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(5), pages 2121-2144, September.
    16. Clara Gallego-Sosa & Yakira Fernández-Torres & Milagros Gutiérrez-Fernández, 2020. "Does Gender Diversity Affect the Environmental Performance of Banks?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-15, December.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • M14 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Corporate Culture; Diversity; Social Responsibility
    • Q5 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics

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