Abstract
In recent years, natural disasters and public health events caused by global warming have occurred frequently around the world. It has become a global consensus to actively respond to climate change. Firms are the main source of greenhouse gas emissions. The disclosure of carbon information is one of the most important ways for firms to respond to climate change. The effect of female directors on carbon information disclosure is still unclear. Considering that China is the largest country in greenhouse gas emissions and the social status of females in China is different from western countries, this paper explores the effect of female directors on carbon information disclosure by firms in China. Based on the sample of listed Chinese firms in high carbon industries during the period of 2012–2017, our empirical results show that female directors have a positive association with carbon information disclosure. In addition, we find that the power, educational level, and financial background of female directors have positive impacts on firms’ carbon information disclosure. Our findings make a significant contribution to the ongoing debate on the role of female directors and provide new insights and policy implications for firms, regulators, and other stakeholders.
Highlights
In recent years, natural disasters and public health events caused by global warming such as floods, hurricanes, heat waves, forest fires, and outbreaks of infectious diseases have occurred frequently
Around half of the female directors in sample firms have a master’s degree or higher degrees, and about 41% of female directors have financial background. e proportion of female directors having power or legal background is relatively low, only 20.4% and 10.9%, respectively. e mean of return on assets (ROA) is 4.78%, and the maximum and minimum values of ROA are 51.66% and −39.92%, respectively, which illustrates that the rate of return on total assets among firms has a great difference. e minimum and maximum of OC are 1.3% and 98.6%, respectively, which means that the ownership concentration of sample firms has an obvious difference. e mean value of dummy variable (DUAL) is 0.222, which means that the same person holds the position of president and CEO in 22.2% of the sample firms
We tested the relation between female directors and firms’ Carbon information disclosure (CID) decisions utilizing probit regression. e results in columns 1 and 2 of Table 8 (model (2)) show that the coefficients of FEM_DUM and FEM_RAT are positive and significant at the 1% level. ese results indicate that firms with female directors are more likely to disclose carbon information, and the increasing of the representation of women on board could promote firms’ CID decisions and attention to climate change issues. ese results support Hypothesis 1
Summary
Natural disasters and public health events caused by global warming such as floods, hurricanes, heat waves, forest fires, and outbreaks of infectious diseases have occurred frequently. Considering that the culture and social status of women in China are different from those of western developed countries, it is necessary to investigate the influence of female directors on CID of firms in China. Is study calculates an index using text analysis based on carbon-related information in Chinese firms’ annual and social responsibility reports. Ird, focusing on the Chinese context, this study can provide empirical evidence on female directors’ role in firms’ CID behavior in eastern developing countries. European countries such as Norway, Netherlands, and Italy have mandated quotas for women on board. In the context of China, this study can better investigate the influence of female directors on firms’ CID behavior in eastern countries.
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