Do boards care about planetary boundaries? A gender perspective on circular economy disclosures

Abstract

The need to develop environmentally respectful business activities has led academics to propose the circular economy (CE) as a more sustainable production and consumption model than the linear model, where interest groups demand greater disclosure of information that makes it possible to evaluate the business transition towards the CE. Also, the planetary boundaries framework provides thresholds for different natural processes that are affected by business activities, so in this research, we link the CE to planetary boundaries by designing a score, and we analyse the presence of female directors and the role women play in the presentation of CE information that attends to planetary boundaries. We also examine the effect that national cultures characterized by high power distance and masculinity can have on their performance. We use a sample of 832 companies around the world from 2011 to 2020. The results show that women directors promote the presentation of CE information at a global level and disaggregated by CE issues, framed within planetary boundaries—a relation that is reinforced in societies with high power distance.