Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Board gender diversity and sustainability reporting quality

Al-Shaer, Habiba; Zaman, Mahbub

Authors

Habiba Al-Shaer



Abstract

Based on the notion that a diverse board will take a more balanced view and pay greater attention to social responsibility and stakeholder concerns, this paper examines the effect of board gender diversity, measured using a range of proxies, on sustainability reporting quality. After controlling for corporate governance as well as firm reporting incentives, reporting behaviour and reporting environment, we find that gender diverse boards are associated with higher quality sustainability reports and independent female directors have greater effect on sustainability reporting quality than female directors. Our findings have implications for policy formulation and provide evidence for a softer ‘comply or explain’ (as opposed to quota based) approach to encourage board gender diversity and its effects on sustainability reporting quality.

Citation

Al-Shaer, H., & Zaman, M. (2016). Board gender diversity and sustainability reporting quality. Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, 12(3), 210-222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcae.2016.09.001

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jul 13, 2016
Online Publication Date Sep 28, 2016
Publication Date 2016-12
Deposit Date May 16, 2019
Journal Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics
Print ISSN 1815-5669
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 12
Issue 3
Pages 210-222
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcae.2016.09.001
Keywords Boards; Diversity; Gender; Sustainability reporting
Public URL https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/1790905
Publisher URL https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1815566916300480?via%3Dihub