Abstract
A growing body of research suggests that the composition of a firm’s board of directors can influence its environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance. In the banking industry, ESG performance has not yet been explored to discover how a critical mass of women on the board of directors affects performance. This paper seeks to fill this gap in the literature by testing the impact of a critical mass of female directors on ESG performance. Other board characteristics are accounted for: independence, size, frequency of meetings and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) committee. We use fixed effects panel regression models on a sample of 108 listed banks in Europe and the United States for the period 2011–2016. Our main empirical evidence shows that the relationship between women on the board of directors and a bank’s ESG performance is an inverted U-shape. Therefore, the critical mass theory for banks is not supported, confirming that only gender-balanced boards positively impact a bank’s performance for sustainability. There is a positive link between ESG performance and board size or the presence of a CSR committee, while it is negative with the share of independent directors. With this work, we stress the key role of corporate governance principles in banks’ ESG performance, with relevant implications for both banks and supervisory authorities.
Highlights
A company’s success essentially depends on the board of directors [1], given that they are responsible for approving and overseeing the implementation of strategic goals, the system of governance and creating company culture [2]
Women on the board are positively associated both with bank size and return on equity (ROE), suggesting that banks of which boards are served by more female directors are larger and more profitable
Hypothesis 1 predicts that a critical mass of women on the board of directors has a positive effect on a bank’s ESG performance
Summary
A company’s success essentially depends on the board of directors [1], given that they are responsible for approving and overseeing the implementation of strategic goals, the system of governance and creating company culture [2]. A successful board will place an emphasis on business ethics and corporate responsibility [3]. Businesses are well aware of the fact that their survival depends on achieving one or more Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs), on the climate. It is increasingly important for members of governing bodies to address long-term sustainability risks and to integrate them into their corporate strategy and business models [2]. Supervisory authorities should verify that boards of directors are knowledgeable on sustainability issues and are able to understand and value ESG preferences of stakeholders
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