Board independence and corporate water disclosure: The role of board diversity

Abstract

With the contemporary prevalence of global environmental issues, academic attention to companies’ water responsibilities is increasing. Therefore, we investigate Forbes Global 2000 listed multinational corporations (MNCs) water disclosure via content analysis and empirically test the impact of board independence on corporate water disclosure and the moderating effect of board diversity. Our results show that board independence significantly promotes MNCs’ water disclosure, the moderating effect of board gender diversity is positive, and the joint moderating effect of board diversity is also positive. This study emphasizes the importance of board independence and board diversity in enhancing a company’s water responsibility and extends the application of stakeholder theory to the corporate water responsibility field. Moreover, suggestions for policymakers and MNCs to promote corporate water responsibility are provided.