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Purpose This study aims to investigate the influence of organisations’ board gender diversity on the adoption of the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs) and on the use of external assurance. Design/methodology/approach The paper combines data from the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Disclosure Database and the Orbis database from Bureau van Dijk. The study uses logit models based on a sample of 366 large Asian and African companies which have addressed the SDGs in their sustainability reports published in 2017. Findings The results reveal that board gender diversity is positively associated with sustainability reporting and the involvement of an external assurance provider. Originality/value This study adds to the growing literature on the relationship between women’s participation on corporate boards and SDG reporting. Additionally, it addresses the understudied question of how the gender diversity of board resources affects the adoption of the external assurance of sustainability reporting.

We analyze if the relationship lending reduces the borrower's probability of borrowers' default and if this beneficial effect operates also for those borrowers who are more exposed to the economic downturn. By using unique, matched data of 43,000 firms and their lending institutions between 2008 and 2010, we document that the probability that a firm becomes distressed decreases when the creditor concentration is high and the duration of bank-firm relationships is long. While these results seem to support the beneficial effect of the relationship lending practices, we note that the organizational distance of banks and collateral also matters both as determinants of loan distress and as determinants of loan downgrading. The results are stronger for smaller firms.JEL classification: G21

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