CEO gender, critical mass of board gender diversity and ESG performance: UK evidence

IF 1.1 Q3 BUSINESS, FINANCE

Journal of Accounting Literature Pub Date : 2024-05-02 DOI:10.1108/jal-10-2023-0181

H. Al‐Shaer, Mahbub Zaman, Khaldoon Albitar

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

PurposeThis study investigates the relationship between CEO leadership, gender homophily and corporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance. We also investigate whether it is essential to have a critical mass of women directors on the board to create a significant power of gender diversity in leadership positions.Design/methodology/approachOur study is based on firms listed on the London Stock Exchange (FTSE-All-Share) from 2011 to 2019. CEO characteristics and other board variables were collected from BoardEx, and ESG data, and other related variables were collected from Eikon database.FindingsWe find a critical mass of female directors contributes to ESG performance suggesting that token representation of female directors on boards limits their effectiveness. We do not find support for the gender homophily perspective, our findings suggest that the effectiveness of female CEOs does not depend on the existence of a critical mass of female directors. Female directors and female CEOs are less likely to be associated with ESG activities when firms experience poor financial performance. We also find that younger female CEOs have a positive impact on ESG performance. Furthermore, we find female CEOs with shorter tenure are more likely to improve ESG performance. Overall, our findings suggest a substitutional effect between having female CEOs and gender diverse boards.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the debate on gender homophily in the boardroom and how that may affect ESG practices. It also complements existing academic research on female leadership and ESG performance and has important implications for senior management and policymakers.

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首席执行官的性别、董事会性别多样性的临界质量和 ESG 业绩：英国的证据

目的本研究探讨首席执行官领导力、性别同质性与企业环境、社会和治理（ESG）绩效之间的关系。我们还调查了董事会中是否必须有足够数量的女性董事，才能在领导岗位上形成显著的性别多元化力量。设计/方法/途径我们的研究基于 2011 年至 2019 年在伦敦证券交易所（FTSE-All-Share）上市的公司。首席执行官特征和其他董事会变量来自 BoardEx，ESG 数据和其他相关变量来自 Eikon 数据库。研究结果我们发现，女性董事的临界质量有助于提高 ESG 业绩，这表明董事会中女性董事的象征性代表限制了其有效性。我们的研究结果表明，女性首席执行官的有效性并不取决于是否存在足够数量的女性董事。当公司财务业绩不佳时，女性董事和女性首席执行官与环境、社会和公司治理活动相关的可能性较小。我们还发现，年轻的女性首席执行官对环境、社会和公司治理绩效有积极影响。此外，我们还发现任期较短的女性首席执行官更有可能提高环境、社会和公司治理绩效。总之，我们的研究结果表明，女性首席执行官和性别多元化董事会之间存在替代效应。它还补充了关于女性领导力和 ESG 表现的现有学术研究，对高级管理层和政策制定者具有重要意义。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Accounting Literature BUSINESS, FINANCE-

CiteScore

6.50

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： The objective of the Journal is to publish papers that make a fundamental and substantial contribution to the understanding of accounting phenomena. To this end, the Journal intends to publish papers that (1) synthesize an area of research in a concise and rigorous manner to assist academics and others to gain knowledge and appreciation of diverse research areas or (2) present high quality, multi-method, original research on a broad range of topics relevant to accounting, auditing and taxation. Topical coverage is broad and inclusive covering virtually all aspects of accounting. Consistent with the historical mission of the Journal, it is expected that the lead article of each issue will be a synthesis article on an important research topic. Other manuscripts to be included in a given issue will be a mix of synthesis and original research papers. In addition to traditional research topics and methods, we actively solicit manuscripts of the including, but not limited to, the following: • meta-analyses • field studies • critiques of papers published in other journals • emerging developments in accounting theory • commentaries on current issues • innovative experimental research with strong grounding in cognitive, social or anthropological sciences • creative archival analyses using non-standard methodologies or data sources with strong grounding in various social sciences • book reviews • "idea" papers that don''t fit into other established categories.