Do Women Leaders Promote Sustainability? Analyzing the Effect of Corporate Governance Composition on Environmental Performance

Christy Glass; Alison Cook; Alicia R. Ingersoll

doi:10.1002/bse.1879

journal article Mar 13, 2015

Do Women Leaders Promote Sustainability? Analyzing the Effect of Corporate Governance Composition on Environmental Performance

Christy Glass Alison Cook Alicia R. Ingersoll

Business Strategy and the Environment Vol. 25 No. 7 pp. 495-511 · Wiley

View at Publisher Save 10.1002/bse.1879

Abstract

AbstractIn this study, we investigate the impact women leaders have on the corporate environmental strategies of organizations. Using a dataset of all Fortune 500 CEOs and boards of directors for a ten‐year period, we examine several aspects of gender in leadership on environmental strategy. Specifically, we test the impact of women CEOs, the proportion of women on the BOD, the number of interlinks women board members hold, and the interactive and cumulative effects of women CEOs and gender diverse boards. Findings suggest that firms characterized by gender diverse leadership teams are more effective than other firms at pursuing environmentally friendly strategies. This study contributes to research on corporate governance and environmental performance by showing how the gender composition of leaders affects corporate practice. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

Topics

No keywords indexed for this article. Browse by subject →

References

106

[1]

10.1177/0891243206289499

[2]

10.1287/mnsc.1110.1452

[3]

10.1002/bse.713

[4]

10.4135/9781412993869

[5]

10.1162/003355301556419

[6]

10.2307/20159562

[7]

Barton D "Capitalism for the long term" Harvard Business Review (2011)

[8]

Barton D "Focusing capital on the long term" Harvard Business Review (2014)

[9]

Bell E (2001)

[10]

10.1002/bse.439

[11]

10.1177/0007650305283332

[12]

10.1002/bse.723

[13]

Bord RJ "The gender gap in environmental attitudes: the case of perceived vulnerability to risk" Journal of Social Issues (1997)

[14]

10.1007/978-90-481-3401-4_14

[15]

10.1111/j.1467-8683.2007.00569.x

[16]

Brown DH (2002)

[17]

10.1002/bse.640

[18]

10.2307/3069408

[19]

10.1111/j.1467-8683.2009.00734.x

[20]

Chodrow N (1974)

[21]

10.1002/csr.279

[22]

10.2307/2657335

[23]

10.1177/000312240707200502

[24]

10.2307/3096873

[25]

DavenportC.2014.Unveiling new carbon plan E.P.A. focuses on flexibility.New York Times2 June.

[26]

10.1177/0891243298012003006

[27]

10.1007/s10869-013-9308-7

[28]

De Geus A (2002)

[29]

Demb A (1992) 10.1093/oso/9780195070392.001.0001

[30]

10.1016/s0148-2963(01)00241-7

[31]

The Iron Cage Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism and Collective Rationality in Organizational Fields

Paul J. DiMaggio, Walter W. Powell

American Sociological Review 10.2307/2095101

[32]

10.1002/bse.323

[33]

Eagly AH (2007)

[34]

10.1037/0033-2909.129.4.569

[35]

10.1037/0033-295x.109.3.573

[36]

10.2307/256740

[37]

Cultural Diversity at Work: The Effects of Diversity Perspectives on Work Group Processes and Outcomes

Robin J. Ely, David A. Thomas

Administrative Science Quarterly 10.2307/2667087

[38]

Fernandez‐Feijoo B "Women on boards: do they affect sustainability reporting?" Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management (2013)

[39]

10.1111/1540-6261.00559

[40]

Fondas N "A different voice in the boardroom: how the presence of women directors affects board influence over management" Global Focus (2000)

[41]

10.1002/csr.1294

[42]

Gilligan C (1982)

[43]

10.1002/smj.202

[44]

10.1177/000312240507000408

[45]

10.1007/s10551-011-1046-z

[46]

10.2307/2393337

[47]

10.1177/014920630202800603

[48]

10.1007/bf02759689

[49]

10.1111/j.0038-4941.2004.00239.x

[50]

Board Members in the Service Industry: An Empirical Examination of the Relationship Between Corporate Social Responsibility Orientation and Directorial Type

Nabil A. Ibrahim, Donald P. Howard, John P. Angelidis

Journal of Business Ethics 10.1023/a:1027334524775

Showing 50 of 106 references

Cited By

529

Female leadership and corporate carbon emissions: Economic mechanisms and institutional contingencies

Mianmian Chen, Lu He · 2026

International Review of Economics &...

Media attention, female directors and corporate greenwashing: evidence from China

Dan Ma, Longsheng Wu · 2026

Journal of Applied Economics

Board Structure and ESG Performance: The Moderating Role of Country‐Level Gender Parity

Alfredo Grau Grau, Inmaculada Bel‐Oms · 2025

Corporate Social Responsibility and...

Eco‐Innovation, Corporate Governance and Nation‐Level Institutions: A Cross‐Country Evidence

Arup Roy, Ranjan Dasgupta · 2025

Business Strategy and the Environme...

A Study on the Impact of Board Characteristics on the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Responsibilities of Listed Companies—Evidence from Chinese Listings

Haoming Ding, Zerui Wang · 2024

Sustainability

Carbon emissions, female CEOs and earnings management

Muhammad Nurul Houqe, Solomon Opare · 2024

International Journal of Accounting...

CEO gender, critical mass of board gender diversity and ESG performance: UK evidence

Habiba Al-Shaer, Mahbub Zaman · 2024

Journal of Accounting Literature

Sustainable practices in Malaysian manufacturing: The influence of CSR, transformational leadership, and green organizational culture on environmental performance

Nada Khaddage-Soboh, Manal Yunis · 2024

Economic Analysis and Policy

Corporate Governance Characteristics and Environmental Sustainability Affect the Business Performance among Listed Saudi Company

Nasareldeen Hamed Ahmed Alnor · 2024

Sustainability

When businesses go digital: The role of CEO attributes in technology adoption and utilization during the COVID-19 pandemic

Addisu A. Lashitew · 2023

Technological Forecasting and Socia...

The impacts of tenure diversity on boardroom and corporate carbon emission performance: Exploring from the moderating role of corporate innovation

Suham Cahyono, Iman Harymawan · 2023

Corporate Social Responsibility and...

Female leadership and ESG performance of firms: Nordic evidence

Habeeb Yahya · 2023

Corporate Governance: The internati...

Impact of corporate governance on corporate social responsibility disclosure of the UAE listed banks

Fatima Al Maeeni, Nejla Ould Daoud Ellili · 2022

Journal of Financial Reporting and...

The mediating role of green innovation and green culture in the relationship between green human resource management and environmental performance

Liuyue Fang, Shengxu Shi · 2022

PLoS ONE

Facilitating sustainability control in SMEs through the implementation of an environmental management system

Leanne Johnstone · 2021

Journal of Management Control

The impact of board composition on the level of ESG disclosures in GCC countries

Mahmoud Arayssi, Mohammad Jizi · 2020

Sustainability Accounting, Manageme...

European firms’ corporate biodiversity disclosures and board gender diversity from 2002 to 2016

Faizul Haque, Michael John Jones · 2020

The British Accounting Review

Nudging toward diversity in the boardroom: A systematic literature review of board diversity of financial institutions

Saleh F. A. Khatib, Dewi Fariha Abdullah · 2020

Business Strategy and the Environme...

Corporate social responsibility strategy and corporate environmental and social performance: The moderating role of board gender diversity

Nurlan Orazalin, Mady Baydauletov · 2020

Corporate Social Responsibility and...

Does gender diversity matter for green innovation?

Xiaoping He, Shuo Jiang · 2019

Business Strategy and the Environme...

Metrics

529

Citations

106

References

Details

Published: Mar 13, 2015
Vol/Issue: 25(7)
Pages: 495-511
License: View

Authors

C

Christy Glass

Department of Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Utah State University Logan UT USA

A

Alison Cook

Department of Management, Jon M. Huntsman School of Business Utah State University Logan UT USA

A

Alicia R. Ingersoll

Ingersoll Cook, LLC Hurricane UT, 84737 USA

Cite This Article

Christy Glass, Alison Cook, Alicia R. Ingersoll (2015). Do Women Leaders Promote Sustainability? Analyzing the Effect of Corporate Governance Composition on Environmental Performance. Business Strategy and the Environment, 25(7), 495-511. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.1879

Do Women Leaders Promote Sustainability? Analyzing the Effect of Corporate Governance Composition on Environmental Performance

You May Also Like