Does gender diversity moderate the relationship between CSR committees and Sustainable Development Goals disclosure? Evidence from Latin American companies

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to investigate the association between the presence of a corporate social responsibility (CSR) committee and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) disclosure, as well as the moderating role of gender diversity in this relation. Design/methodology/approach The sample consists of 897 annual observations from 238 firms from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru for 2018–2020. The data were collected from the Refinitiv database. The proposed model and hypotheses were tested using the feasible generalized least squares estimation technique with heteroscedasticity and panel-specific AR1 autocorrelation. Findings The results reveal that the presence of CSR committees positively influences the SDGs. Gender diversity positively moderates the relationship between CSR committees and SDGs. Leverage and firm size also positively impact the SDGs. On the other hand, board size and CEO duality negatively affect SDGs disclosure. Research limitations/implications This study extends the scope of stakeholder theory by suggesting that CSR committees and gender diversity enable a better relationship for the firm with its stakeholders. Practical implications The findings support policymakers and managers in improving sustainability disclosure. In addition, the results demonstrate the importance of CSR committees and gender diversity to meet the stakeholders' demands. Social implications This study demonstrates how firms can improve sustainability issues through gender diversity and CSR committees. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study complements previous literature by being the first to examine the moderating effect of gender diversity on the association between CSR committees and SDGs disclosure in the Latin American context.

Inovação ambiental e iniciativas gerenciais de redução de carbono: o efeito moderador do poder do CEO

“…Based on the studies by Daniel-Vasconcelos et al (2022), Gallén and Peraita (2018), Naeem et al (2023), andWen et al (2023), we employ the Panel-Corrected Standard Error (PCSE) estimator as an alternative method. Since FGLS may overestimate the significance of the coefficients (Beck & Katz, 1995), the performance of PCSE may be better than the FGLS estimator in samples where the number of periods is equal to or greater than the number of cross sections (Hossain, 2016).…”

Exploring the research on sustainability reporting: a comprehensive bibliometric and literature review in the Latin American context

“…Related to the above, recent research has also studied SDGs compliance reporting in relation to sustainability performance disclosure, enabling a change of direction in the approach to strategic objectives and management with stakeholders that can meet their interests, enhancing legitimacy, as well as providing greater scope for disclosure of the environmental and social practices proposed by the SDGs. (Calabrese et al 2021;Cortés, 2022;Daniel-Vasconcelos et al, 2022;Rosati & Faria, 2019;Tsalis et al, 2020).…”

“…promotion by governments, regulatory bodies, and professional associations(Reis et al, 2020;Pineda-Escobar, 2019). As pointed out in studies on the SDGs in Latin America such as those byCortés (2022) andDaniel-Vasconcelos et al (2022), the contribution of organizations to the SDGs is still under development and should be oriented towards the improvements of health services, community development, gender equality in employment opportunities and initiatives to combat poverty, climate change, care for biodiversity and anti-corruption measures.Institutional and legitimacy theories are the most recurrent in the literature review that explains that sustainability reporting in Latin America is due to a regulatory or normative influence and as a positive justification of activities with high environmental and social impact on society. However, stakeholder theory is only considered in the studies byClemente et al …”

Enhancing Financial Performance of Islamic Banks in Indonesia: The Mediating Effect of Green Banking Disclosure on Corporate Governance Practices

“…Rao & Tilt, 2021), while conventional banking has been found to have no correlation (Kusuma et al, 2018) and has not been found in Islamic banking. Other empirical evidence documents the correlation of board size and an independent board of commissioners on the financial performance of Islamic banks (Intia & Azizah, 2021;Umam & Ginanjar, 2020;Rahmawati, 2017), but the correlation of gender diversity has only been found in conventional banks (Daniel-Vasconcelos et al, 2022) and nonbanks (Brahma et al, 2021). So it is necessary to do research related to green banking disclosure in Islamic banks.…”