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Female Directors on Audit Committees and Corporate Environmental Decoupling

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  • Patrick Velte

Abstract

Analyzing the connection between female directors on audit committees and corporate environmental decoupling, this study recognized the moderator effect of sustainability assurance on this link. Based on stakeholder agency theory, we used a sample of listed firms on the STOXX Europe 600 index (2178 firm‐year observations) from the business years 2017–2022 and conducted correlation and regression analyses. We found that gender diversity on audit committees and corporate environmental decoupling were statistically negatively related. Moreover, in contrast to the existence of sustainability assurance, the choice of a big four audit firm as the sustainability assuror strengthened this relationship. Our results were robust to various robustness and endogeneity checks. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study on the impact of audit committees and sustainability decoupling. Our study contributes mainly to prior research on the link between audit committees and sustainability outputs. In view of the ambitious sustainability regulations on the European capital market, businesses, regulators, and researchers should strengthen the connectivity between audit committees, sustainability assurors, and related corporate outputs.

Suggested Citation

  • Patrick Velte, 2025. "Female Directors on Audit Committees and Corporate Environmental Decoupling," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(8), pages 10278-10295, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:34:y:2025:i:8:p:10278-10295
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.70099
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    6. DeAngelo, Linda Elizabeth, 1981. "Auditor size and audit quality," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(3), pages 183-199, December.
    7. Patrick Velte, 2025. "Female chief financial officers (CFOs) and environmental decoupling. The moderating impact of sustainability board committees," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(1), pages 1147-1160, January.
    8. Ross, Stephen A, 1973. "The Economic Theory of Agency: The Principal's Problem," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 63(2), pages 134-139, May.
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