Do Women Leaders Promote Sustainability? Analyzing the Effect of Corporate Governance Composition on Environmental Performance

Abstract

In this study, we investigate the impact women leaders have on the corporate environmental strategies of organizations. Using a dataset of all Fortune 500 CEOs and boards of directors for a ten‐year period, we examine several aspects of gender in leadership on environmental strategy. Specifically, we test the impact of women CEOs, the proportion of women on the BOD, the number of interlinks women board members hold, and the interactive and cumulative effects of women CEOs and gender diverse boards. Findings suggest that firms characterized by gender diverse leadership teams are more effective than other firms at pursuing environmentally friendly strategies. This study contributes to research on corporate governance and environmental performance by showing how the gender composition of leaders affects corporate practice. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

Corporate boards and environmental offence conviction: evidence from the United Kingdom

“…These results are also consistent with the argument that large boards are not as cohesive in initiating strategic action compared to smaller boards and that, as a result, perform less strategic planning and may encounter more problems in setting and implementing an acceptable agenda on the environment. Our finding of a statistically significant negative association between the presence of a woman on the board and the likelihood of a firm being convicted of an environmental offence is also consistent with growing literature showing the effectiveness of women on the board of directors (e.g., Glass et al, 2015;Post el al., 2015). These findings are also consistent with the suggestion by Hillman et al (2002) that women on boards are more likely than men to be support specialists and individuals with influence in the community and that having more female directors may sensitize boards to CSR initiatives.…”

“…Glass, Cook and Ingersoll (2015) investigated the impact women leaders had on the corporate environmental strategies of organisations. The findings revealed that the effects of gender diversity on environmental practice are nuanced and context dependent.…”

“…According to Glass et al (2015), while gender socialization perspective predicts that women CEOs will be more likely than men CEOs to pursue environmentally friendly policies, there is also evidence to suggest that gender diverse boards will be more amenable to environmentally sustainable practices than non-diverse boards. Post, Rahman and Rubow (2011) found evidence that firms with a critical mass on the board spend more time on environmental and corporate social responsibility concerns.…”

“…Empirical results on the relationship between proportion of women on the board directors and environmental performance is, however, mixed. For example, Glass et al (2015) found that the proportion of women on the board has an effect on environmental strengths but not weaknesses, while Post et al (2015) found that the higher the representation of women on the board, the more likely the firm was to form sustainability-themed alliances. We therefore hypothesize as follows:…”

Mechanisms to promote board gender diversity in South Africa

“…A positive business case for board gender diversity (also referred to as the utility argument) was observed by several authors (Adams & Ferreira 2009;Seierstad 2016;Simpson, Carter & D'Souza 2010). In addition to financial benefits, gender diverse boards are associated with proactive social and environmental policies, practices and reporting (Bernardi & Threadgill 2010;Glass, Cook & Ingersoll 2015). Bear, Rahman and Post (2010) reported a positive association between board gender diversity and a company's reputation as a good corporate citizen.…”