The link of ESG performance and board gender diversity in European firms

Abstract

This study analyses the relationship between board gender diversity and the ESG scores for Spanish, French, German, and English listed companies. Previous academic literature shows controversial results regarding the benefits of female participation in boards of directors, however many studies have only used an aggregated indicator to measure performance or they do not have compared the results among countries. The empirical section of this research uses a sample formed by 205 companies from France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom for a period of 19 years (from 2002 to 2020). The results obtained through a panel data estimation confirm a positive and significant relationship between board gender diversity (BGD) and the social and the corporate governance score in all cases. However, the relationship between BGD and the environmental score is only confirmed in the case of Spain, France, and Germany. Therefore, even though in these countries, the actions to promote gender equality have been different and at different times, the results are mostly homogeneous.