Women Directors and Strategic Disclosure

Abstract

The article focuses on the implications of women directors for strategic disclosure by exploring their influence on the quality of business plan in terms of information comprehensiveness. To this aim, by using hand-collected data and combining content analysis with OLS regression, it examines a sample of publicly listed non-financial Italian firms. Findings show that, while the presence of a critical mass of women on board negatively influences the quality of business plan, women CFOs positively affect such strategic planning tool. Therefore, by showing that women directors influence the quality of one of the most effective strategic planning and communication tools, the study extends the research on the role of women for the strategic decision-making process and outcomes. It also enriches the literature on the determinants of the business plan and strategic disclosure by exploring how women directors prompt the related quality. Following the recent increasing attention of policy-makers towards the necessity to foster the women’s involvement in company activity that has been also strongly pushed by the socio-economical COVID-19 consequences, the article informs firms and practitioners about the beneficial implications of appointing women in apical positions for the level of company strategic disclosure quality.