Female directors and environmental innovation: is stakeholder orientation a missing link?

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of stakeholder orientation in mediating the impact of female directors on environmental innovation. The authors argue that female directors are eco-friendly and more concerned with multi-stakeholder interests and demands. Thus, they promote environmental innovation by including more stakeholder-oriented values and beliefs in firm decision-making. Design/methodology/approach As the dependent variable in this study is a nonnegative count variable, the authors use a count data model based on Poisson regression. A sample of Chinese listed firms between 2010 and 2020 is used to test the hypotheses. Findings The results of this study show that female directors can enhance environmental innovation. Further, stakeholder orientation represents an intermediate channel that accounts for the effects of female directors on environmental innovation. This suggests that having women on a board can lead to better stakeholder management, which, in turn, positively affects environmental innovation. The authors also reveal that female directors contribute more to stakeholder orientation with the presence of female chairpersons. Originality/value A significant limitation in the literature is that little attention has been paid to the mechanisms linking female directors to firm outcomes. In the context of environmental innovation, while previous studies have investigated the influence of female directors on environmental innovation, the underlying channels of that influence remain largely unexplored. Therefore, the findings of this study advance the understanding of the effects of female directors on environmental innovation by revealing an important underlying channel – stakeholder orientation.

Leadership in heels: Women on boards and sustainability in times of COVID‐19

“…= 0.0260) for a confidence level of 99%. These results, which are in line with Shoham et al (2017), Elmagrhi et al (2019), Yaseen et al (2019), Govindan et al (2021), Al‐Najjar and Salama (2022) and Wang et al (2022), among others, showed a positive relationship between the number of female directors and the firms' sustainability performance. In addition, when we estimate Equation () for the three main dimensions of sustainability, we observe that the variable B_Diversity favorably influences the social (coeff.…”

“…However, considering the most recent studies on diversity, sustainability, and corporate responsibility, the results are inconclusive. Thus, several studies have found a positive relationship (i.e., Al‐Najjar & Salama, 2022; Beji et al, 2020; De Masi et al, 2022; Elmagrhi et al, 2019; Galletta et al, 2022; García‐Sánchez et al, 2023; Govindan et al, 2021; Issa et al, 2022; Moreno‐Ureba et al, 2022; Provasi & Harasheh, 2020; Rehman et al, 2020; Shoham et al, 2017; Uyar et al, 2021; Wang et al, 2022; Yaseen et al, 2019), while others have observed non‐significant (Ardito et al, 2020; Ajaz et al, 2020; Zaid et al, 2020) and even negative (Bristy et al, 2020; Fakir & Jusoh, 2020; Garcia‐Sanchez, Gallego‐Alvarez, & Zafra‐Gomez, 2021; Loukil et al, 2019; Orazalin & Baydauletov, 2020; Sanan, 2016) relationships, presenting divergences in favor of economic dimensions over social and environmental ones (Nadeem et al, 2020; Nguyen et al, 2021). In addition, there may be a temporary effect that indicates changes in the role that female directors play, in the sense that a change has been observed in the interest they show regarding the adoption of ethical policies and management of the firm's activities (i.e., Monteiro et al, 2021; Nadeem et al, 2017), something that did not occur in previous times (i.e., García‐Sánchez et al 2015; Rodriguez‐Dominguez et al, 2009).…”

Are gender‐diverse boards eco‐innovative? The mediating role of corporate social responsibility strategy

“…However, the findings are inconsistent for a direct relationship between gender diversity and innovation (García‐Sánchez et al, 2021; Ma et al, 2022; Moreno et al, 2018; Shukla & Teraiya, 2022; Ullah & Nasim, 2021). Inconsistent findings have led some to the assumption that having gender diversity on board may not influence directly eco‐innovation and that alternative explanations are needed (Moreno et al, 2018; Wang et al, 2022).…”

“…These mixed findings may indicate that having gender balance in boardroom is not likely to have a direct impact on eco‐innovation and that intervening variables should be explored. This leads some researchers to suggest the existence of intervening mechanisms that might play a role in explicating how the presence of women on boards may promote eco‐innovation through their influence on boards' decision‐making processes (Moreno et al, 2018; Wang et al, 2022). To address this gap, we hypothesize that board gender diversity and eco‐innovation are mediated by CSR strategy.…”

Influencing social enterprise resilience by intellectual capital and the contribution of female leadership: insights from the Italian context

“…Women tend to be more caring-oriented and to create or maintain long-term relationships with stakeholders (Boulouta, 2013). Wang et al (2022) argue that female directors are more concerned with multi-stakeholder interests and demands than male colleagues. The authors state that having women on a board can lead to better stakeholder management.…”