Women on Boards and Corporate Social Responsibility

Abstract

A growing body of research suggests that having more women in the boardroom leads to better corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance. However, much of this work views the CSR-enhancing effect of women directors as largely driven by their moral orientations and rarely considers other underlying mechanisms. Moreover, less explored are the firm-specific conditions under which such CSR-promoting roles of female directors might be performed more (or less) effectively. In this paper, we seek to bridge this gap in the literature by (1) proposing an additional account for the positive influence of female independent directors on the firm's CSR and (2) illuminating the organizational context in which female directorship is likely to translate into good CSR performance. We argue that women independent directors might take CSR issues more seriously than their male counterparts not only because of their stronger moral orientations, but also because they have reputational reasons to do so. Further, we suggest that female directors' concerns about CSR-relevant matters are more (less) likely to gain support from other members of the organization when their company is doing more (less) business in the product markets where reputation for CSR is more (less) vital for success. Using a sample of Standard & Poor's (S&P) 1500 index firms (2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009) and the data on their board composition and CSR ratings, we find strong support for our argument. We find that the number (or proportion) of women independent directors is positively associated with a firm's CSR ratings and that the strength of this relationship depends on the level of the firm's consumer market orientation.

Determinants of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure: An Empirical Study of Polish Listed Companies

“…Williams [67] showed that an increasing number of women members on the boards is positively related to the firm's level of charitable giving to the arts and community. Hyun et al [68] argue that independent female directors in comparison to males might take CSR issues more seriously because of their stronger moral orientations and reputational reasons to do so. According to their research results, the number of independent female directors is positively associated with a firm's CSR ratings.…”

How Third-Party CSR Evaluation Matters: Keeping Up with Rivals in CSR Performance Ratings of Korean Firms, 2011–2015

“…For instance, studies showed that certain psychological and socio-economic traits of high-ranking corporate officers tend to affect the CSR performance of their firms. This stream of work notes that the level of CSR efforts by firms is partly determined by the moral orientations of the individuals in influential positions [18][19][20]. More interestingly, some researchers suggested that the desires of the upper-echelon members of firms for more public attention, a better reputation, and higher labor market value are also important drivers behind their firms' pursuit of CSR initiatives [20,21].…”

Female Directors and Corporate Social Responsibility: Evidence from the Environmental Investment of Chinese Listed Companies

“…Having reviewed the literature on the relationship between board diversity and corporate social responsibility, Rao and Tilt [23] highlight the importance of linking the gender diversity on the board to the decision-making process of corporate social responsibility. Hyun et al [6] considered the inherent mechanism of female directors and obtained positive correlation between the number of female independent directors and corporate social responsibility, which is a further promotion of prio studies. Taking the sample of 91 listed companies in France in 2001-2011, Nekhili et al [24] find that board diversity has an impact on corporate social responsibility.…”

“…The motivation of enterprises to actively undertake social responsibility and carry out environmental investment activities is obvious. Having good corporate social responsibility helps to improve corporate transparency and reduce the information asymmetry between business and stakeholders [5] and to improve long-term corporate value [6]. According to the quaternity indicator system in Research Report on Corporate Social Responsibility of China, social responsibility includes four aspects: management responsibility, market responsibility, public welfare responsibility and environmental responsibility.…”