Board gender diversity and carbon emissions: European evidence on curvilinear relationships and critical mass

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

The role of European businesses in addressing environmental issues and climate change has taken center stage with the European Green Deal. With increasing attention to the effect of board gender diversity (BGD) on firms' environmental performance, the question arises whether BGD has any influence on carbon emissions. Based on legitimacy and critical mass theory, this study empirically investigates the impact of BGD on firms' carbon performance (CP), based on total carbon emissions intensity. The paper relies on two-stage least squares (2SLS) regressions with instrumental variable (IV) and a two-step generalized method of moments (GMM) system approach to analyze a cross-country sample of 3123 observations from non-financial firms in the European STOXX600 index over the 2009–2018 period. Our findings add to the growing empirical evidence twofold: (1) there is a robust linear and positive relationship between BGD and CP, whereas some indication of a U-shaped relationship is found; and (2) we find that a critical mass of at least two women directors needs to be reached to increase CP. Our research results contribute to the current discussion on sustainable corporate governance, especially in the European capital market, and have implications for researchers, business practice, and regulatory issues alike.

Original languageEnglish
JournalBusiness Strategy and the Environment
Volume30
Issue number4
Pages (from-to)1958-1992
Number of pages35
ISSN0964-4733
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 05.2021

Documents

DOI

Recently viewed

Publications

  1. Traumziel Nachhaltigkeit
  2. L’approche néo-institutionelle et ses implications pour le management des relations avec les stakeholders en phase start-up
  3. Sustainability Strategies: What's in a Name?
  4. Discovering Cooperation
  5. Strong or weak synergy?
  6. Generation "Kautschukmann"
  7. Social and Ecological Elements for a Perspective Approach to Citizen Science on the Beach
  8. Direct production of lactic acid based on simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of mixed restaurant food waste
  9. Concentrations and sources of methylxanthines in a Northern German river system
  10. Microstructure investigation of Mg-10Gd-1La containing alloy subjected to fatigue deformation
  11. Legitimation strategies of corporate elites in the field of labor regulation
  12. The social construction of perceived fairness of performance evaluations
  13. Organizing Sustainably: Introduction to the Special Issue
  14. Conflicting demands of chemistry and inclusive teaching—a video‐based case study
  15. Do Women on board of directors have an impact on corporate governance quality and firm performance?
  16. Fremdsprachendidaktiker im Furioso
  17. Finale - Prüfungstraining Realschulabschluss Hessen
  18. The issue of micropollutants in urban water management
  19. Arzneimittel in der Umwelt
  20. Critical Stances
  21. § 290 Verzinsung des Wertersatzes
  22. Prosodie und Zeichensetzung
  23. Representation of dissolved organic carbon in the JULES land surface model (vn4.4-JULES-DOCM)
  24. Measuring and Comparing Party Ideology in Nonindustrialized Societies: Taking Party Manifesto Research to Africa
  25. Teaching Games for Understanding – Ein vernachlässigter Ansatz in der deutschsprachigen Sportpädagogik?
  26. „Michelet“ („Michelet par lui-même“)
  27. Regional renewable energy