The Eco Gender Gap in Boardrooms
81 Pages Posted: 22 Nov 2022 Last revised: 17 Oct 2023
Po-Hsuan Hsu
National Tsing Hua University - Department of Quantitative Finance; National University of Singapore (NUS) - Asian Bureau of Finance and Economic Research (ABFER)
Kai Li
University of British Columbia (UBC) - Sauder School of Business; Asian Bureau of Finance and Economic Research (ABFER); China Academy of Financial Research (CAFR); European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI); Canadian Sustainable Finance Network (CSFN)
Yihui Pan
University of Utah - Department of Finance
Date Written: October 3, 2023
Abstract
Using firm- and facility-level measures from 2002 to 2021, we show that having female directors leads to more environmental-friendly business operations. To establish the causal effect, we resort to plausibly exogenous variations in the share of female directors and a California law change. We show that neither board qualifications nor standard diversity measures supersede the share of female directors in explaining corporate environmental performance, suggesting that director gender is likely a holistic measure of female directors’ values and perspectives, and that female directors contribute to diversity of thought. Our findings highlight positive externalities among firms’ environmental, social, and governance engagement.
Keywords: female directors; boards; corporate environmental performance; pollution prevention; emissions; board gender quota
JEL Classification: G30; G38; G41
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Po-Hsuan Hsu (Contact Author)
National Tsing Hua University - Department of Quantitative Finance ( email )
101, Section 2, Kuang-Fu Road
Hsinchu, Taiwan 300
China
National University of Singapore (NUS) - Asian Bureau of Finance and Economic Research (ABFER) ( email )
BIZ 2 Storey 4, 04-05
1 Business Link
Singapore, 117592
Singapore
Kai Li
University of British Columbia (UBC) - Sauder School of Business ( email )
2053 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2
Canada
604-822-8353 (Phone)
604-822-4695 (Fax)
Asian Bureau of Finance and Economic Research (ABFER) ( email )
BIZ 2 Storey 4, 04-05
1 Business Link
Singapore, 117592
Singapore

China Academy of Financial Research (CAFR) ( email )
1954 Huashan Road
Shanghai P.R.China, 200030
China
European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) ( email )
c/o the Royal Academies of Belgium
Rue Ducale 1 Hertogsstraat
1000 Brussels
Belgium
Canadian Sustainable Finance Network (CSFN) ( email )
Queens University
Kingston, ON
Canada
HOME PAGE: http://https://smith.queensu.ca/centres/isf/research/network.php
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