Family firm status and environmental disclosure: The moderating effect of board gender diversityShow others and affiliations
2023 (English)In: Business Ethics, the Environment & Responsibility, ISSN 2694-6416, Vol. 32, no 4, p. 1334-1351Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Sustainable development
00. Sustainable Development, 5. Gender equality, 12. Responsible consumption and production
Abstract [en]
Building on agency and resource-based view theories, this study investigates the level of environmental disclosure (ED) practices of family versus non-family firms and explores the moderating role of board gender diversity. We test our hypotheses on a 3-year (2018–2020) panel data sample comprising 324 observations of Italian small- and medium-sized enterprises traded on the Euronext Growth Milan. Findings show that, compared to non-family firms, companies with a family firm status are characterized by lower levels of ED. Gender diversity on the board, however, moderates this relationship, reducing this gap, to the extent that the family firm status is associated with higher ED when the number of women directors is high enough to constitute a critical mass. We consequently contribute to the studies on family business, corporate governance, and corporate social responsibility.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
John Wiley & Sons, 2023. Vol. 32, no 4, p. 1334-1351
Keywords [en]
board gender diversity, CSR, environmental disclosure, family firms
National Category
Business Administration
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-62251DOI: 10.1111/beer.12578ISI: 001040822500001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85166514813Local ID: ;intsam;898079OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hj-62251DiVA, id: diva2:1790320
2023-08-222023-08-222024-03-26Bibliographically approved