Purpose

Gender diversity in corporate boards is broadly studied in existing corporate governance literature. However, the role of board gender diversity on environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance of the banks is still unaccounted for. Drawing on resource dependence and legitimacy theory, this study addresses this pressing research issue. Moreover, investigation of ESG controversies as a moderator paves the existing corporate governance research to the new avenues.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were sourced from Refinitiv database on 37 US banks from the period of 2013 to 2017. This study employs static and dynamic panel regression models that include random effects, fixed effects and dynamic generalised method of moments (GMMs) to test the hypotheses. Furthermore, system GMM is used to reduce the issue of endogeneity, measurement error, omitted variables bias and bank-specific heterogeneity.

Findings

We identify a significant positive relationship between board gender diversity and the ESG performance of US banks. However, the result propounds non-significant moderating effect of ESG controversies on the board gender diversity–ESG performance nexus.

Originality/value

Literature on board gender diversity and ESG separately and predominantly explains firm/bank's financial performance. This study is one of the pioneering attempts to explain the role of board gender diversity on ESG performance. Although incremental, however, this study also contributes to the literature on ESG in the US context.

中文翻译：

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美国银行的董事会性别多样性与环境、社会和治理绩效：环境、社会和公司治理争议的调节作用

目的

现有的公司治理文献对公司董事会的性别多样性进行了广泛研究。然而，董事会性别多样性对银行环境、社会和治理 (ESG) 绩效的影响仍未得到解释。本研究借鉴资源依赖和合法性理论，解决了这一紧迫的研究问题。此外，作为调解人对 ESG 争议的调查为现有的公司治理研究开辟了新的途径。

设计/方法/方法

数据来源于 2013 年至 2017 年期间 37 家美国银行的 Refinitiv 数据库。本研究采用静态和动态面板回归模型，包括随机效应、固定效应和动态广义矩法 (GMM) 来检验假设。此外，系统 GMM 用于减少内生性、测量误差、遗漏变量偏差和银行特定异质性问题。

发现

我们发现董事会性别多元化与美国银行的 ESG 绩效之间存在显着的正相关关系。然而，结果表明 ESG 争议对董事会性别多样性-ESG 绩效关系的调节作用不显着。

原创性/价值

关于董事会性别多样性和 ESG 的文献分别主要解释了公司/银行的财务业绩。这项研究是解释董事会性别多元化对 ESG 绩效的作用的开创性尝试之一。然而，这项研究虽然是渐进式的，但也有助于美国背景下的 ESG 文献。