Gender diversity and online intellectual capital disclosure: Evidence from Italian‐listed firms

Abstract

The present research investigates the impact that certain gender diversity attributes exert on online intellectual capital (IC) disclosure in the context of Italian‐listed firms where regulations promoted gender balance in the governing bodies. The websites of a sample of 123 Italian listed companies are content‐analyzed to retrieve the level of voluntary IC disclosure (ICD). Drawing on Agency and Resource Dependence theory perspectives, an Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression model, is estimated to test the association between online ICD and different gender diversity measures, specifically: the proportion of women on boards and the presence of female Chairpersons and female CEOs. The content analysis results show that listed companies in Italy make extensive disclosure of IC on their websites. The results based on the regression analysis confirm that women's presence on boards is conducive to higher voluntary ICD. The analysis also demonstrates that Italian‐listed firms tend to convey more voluntary information on IC resources when a woman is appointed as a CEO. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that provides a snapshot of the potential association between gender diversity—in terms of both the proportion of women on the boards and the presence of women in top executive positions—and the level of web‐based ICD.

Sustainable corporate governance and non-financial disclosure in Europe: does the gender diversity matter?

“…The role that board gender diversity plays in strengthening corporate governance mechanisms and fostering higher ESG disclosures may be framed within the double perspective of stakeholder and resource dependence theory that may represent two complementary frameworks (Gray et al , 1996; Michelon and Parbonetti, 2012; Rao and Tilt, 2016; Manita et al , 2018; Nicolò et al , 2021).…”

“…As such, increasing the board gender diversity via women directors' appointment is of utmost importance. Specifically, women provide the board with a bundle of unique resources in terms of different values, experiences, opinions, ideas, business solutions, competencies, knowledge, leadership styles and linkages with the external environment that improve the internal decision-making process and reduce both uncertainty and dependence from the external environment (Terjesen et al , 2016; Fasan and Mio, 2017; Manita et al , 2018; Nicolò et al , 2021). In particular, women provide links with several networks and better knowledge of certain markets and customers' behaviours than male directors (Terjesen et al , 2016; Manita et al , 2018; Nicolò et al , 2021).…”

“…Specifically, women provide the board with a bundle of unique resources in terms of different values, experiences, opinions, ideas, business solutions, competencies, knowledge, leadership styles and linkages with the external environment that improve the internal decision-making process and reduce both uncertainty and dependence from the external environment (Terjesen et al , 2016; Fasan and Mio, 2017; Manita et al , 2018; Nicolò et al , 2021). In particular, women provide links with several networks and better knowledge of certain markets and customers' behaviours than male directors (Terjesen et al , 2016; Manita et al , 2018; Nicolò et al , 2021). Female directors are also more sensitive to social, environmental and ethical issues and more attentive to address stakeholders' interests than their male counterparts (Fernandez et al , 2019; Zahid et al , 2020).…”

“…Following the European Commission (EC) legislation proposal to increase the presence of the under-represented sex among non-executive directors by 40% in listed companies by 2020 (EC, 2012; Jourova, 2016; Nicolò et al , 2021), several countries have started to adopt both voluntary and mandatory measures to promote female appointment in corporate boards (Nadeem et al , 2017; Furlotti et al , 2019). Apart from the leading examples of Norway, which, in 2003, mandated a gender quota of 40% for women directors, other countries such as Spain, Italy, France, Belgium, Sweden, Austria and the Netherlands have adopted legal measures, involving both listed and State-Owned companies to enhance female presence on the boards.…”

Intellectual capital disclosure and its determinants in healthcare organisations – Evidence from Italy

“…Female directors and managers also typically have a non-financial background, including expertise in soft components such as intangible assets (Tejedo-Romero et al, 2017;Nicol o et al, 2021b). For these reasons, their appointment in top governance and management roles is likely to increase the organisations' ability to meet stakeholders' information needs about IC (Tejedo-Romero et al, 2017;Nicol o et al, 2021b). According to the stakeholder theory, gender diversity in governance and managerial roles is fundamental in public HCOs (Aribi et al, 2018).…”