PurposeThe purpose of this article is to explore the phenomena of board gender diversity and its consequences for sustainability performance, as measured by the environment, social and governance (ESG) disclosure score, in the Indian context.Design/methodology/approachThe positivist paradigm influenced the research design for this study. The relationship between firm's ESG performance and female participation on the corporate boards was explored using panel data regression with a fixed effect approach. A total of 712 data points covering the Nifty 100 companies of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) were included in the data set. To add robustness to the findings and to overcome endogeneity bias, authors employed the Dynamic Generalized Method of Moments (GMM).FindingsThe results showed that, a relatively small, percentage of women directors has little impact on ESG performance, but when at least three women directors are in place, these relationships become more favourable. Despite the fact that Indian firms trail behind many developed and developing countries in promoting board gender equality, authors conclude that critical mass theory partially applies in the Indian context.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the field of corporate governance in the twenty-first century by investigating the subject of women's participation on boards in the context of a rising market and its potential influence on sustainability performance. The use of critical mass theory adds a fresh perspective to the literature.

PurposeThe board of directors of an organization can contribute considerably to the transition to a sustainable global economy by accommodating environmental, social and governance (ESG) measures in the directors' business model. Along these lines, the purpose of this research is to understand the nexus between the board's structural attributes and sustainability disclosures in an emerging economy such as India.Design/methodology/approachThe authors investigate this link using the system generalized method of moments (SGMM) panel regression on a sample of firms from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty 100 Index from 2013 to 2020. This econometric framework controls endogeneity among the variables, which has been a gap in the previous studies.FindingsThe authors find that board structural attributes, like board size, gender diversity, chief executive officer (CEO) duality and independence, have little bearing on sustainability disclosures of Indian companies. However, the board of directors, through the board's company's social responsibility (CSR) committee, strives for sustainability practices in Indian organizations. The authors also find that larger companies are more willing to disclose on ESG efforts than smaller ones, but the financial performance of the smaller ones (as proxied by Tobin's Q) does not matter.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is restricted to a sample of large cap listed companies and specific environment, resulting in the non-generalizability of the findings to different contexts because countries vary in their state of economic development, internal policy, regulations and governance.Practical implicationsA mandated CSR committee has helped Indian businesses to publicize their sustainability efforts. Besides the frontrunner in CSR regulations, Indian organizations have paid least attention to the environmental pillar of the ESG framework. Accordingly, the board of directors should put more emphasis on the environmental aspects of their business' sustainability efforts to help achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs) in the medium term and net neutrality in the long term.Originality/valueFrom the standpoint of an emerging economy like India, which has statutory CSR mandates for firms, this research adds a fresh perspective on the relationship between corporate governance and corporate responsibility by employing stakeholder theory, which is further substantiated by the use of system GMM as a robust methodology. This study also emphasizes the significance of a mandatory CSR committee as a facilitator of sustainability practices and reporting in emerging economies.

PurposeCovid-19 sparked new interest in consumer financial resilience (CFR) amongst regulatory authorities, financial institutions, policymakers and the academia. No financial and health crisis has been worse than Covid-19, erasing the growth momentum of nations at all development stages. This study measures consumers' current financial resilience and future expectations within India's emerging market and its likely response to policy measures.Design/methodology/approachCFR is investigated using individual household data on economic state, employment, income and savings from the Reserve Bank of India's consumer confidence survey. The empirical approach is based on the temporal time-series data with mixed frequency regression. Consumers' current and future expectation indices appear as the regressand, whereas credit-deposit ratio, credit outstanding, number of bank accounts and digital transactions act as main regressors.FindingsThe response of consumers' current situation is 3.50 times higher than that of their future expectations. This implies that a rise in the credit-deposit ratio and credit line positively affects CFR. In contrast, a higher number of bank accounts, a proxy for financial inclusion, adversely affect consumer's well-being possibly owing to the government's failure to provide financial support through banking networks. Digital payments (value) positively affect consumers' current situation and future expectations.Practical implicationsThe results of this study inform policy formulation for enhancing financial resilience. Consumer sentiment index acts as a proxy for CFR.Originality/valueFinancial resilience is a concern for policymakers. This study is one of the first studies linking CFR with financial inclusion, credit creation and digital financial capability.