“Artificial” gender diversity and public visibility: The case of corporate water disclosure in Indonesia

Abstract

Global water crises need solutions from various parties including the business sector.This study examines the role of board gender diversity in supporting corporate water disclosure representing companies' efforts to use and manage water efficiently. This research also investigates whether the public visibility of a corporation, measured by the Google Search Volume (GSV) or Google Trends and which describes the monitoring function from stakeholder groups, can strengthen the association. The samples consist of 51 companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) from 2018-2021. The results showed that gender diversity as indicated by the percentage of women on the board of commissioners and directors has insignificant results, which means that the board's gender diversity has not played a role as an important determinant of corporate water accountability. In addition, the moderating role of GSV also showed insignificant results, meaning that the expected positive effect of board gender diversity on water disclosure does not intensify with high public visibility.Only two control variables, namely the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) committee and company size have significant results, implying that if the company has large total assets and a CSR committee in its structure, the company will tend to optimize its growth by disclosing water information as proof of its commitment towards sustainable development. The insignificant results of gender diversity and public visibility on corporate water disclosure may indicate the trivial role of diversity and the lack of stakeholders' scrutiny of the disclosure of the company's water management, which will worsen the water crises if left unattended.

Pengaruh Firm Size, Political Connection, Gender Diversity, Profitability, dan Leverage Terhadap Water Disclosure pada Perusahaan Sektor Pertambangan yang Terdaftar di Bursa Efek Indonesia Periode 2021-2022

“…Wanita dianggap lebih peka dan sensitif terhadap isu-isu dan aspek sosial di lingkungan perusahaan sehingga dapat menjadi pendorong perusahaan untuk membangun sebuah hubungan yang baik dengan stakeholder. Hasil penelitian ini sejalan dengan penelitian Salsabila & Adhariani (2023) yang menjelaskan tidak terdapat pengaruh gender diversity terhadap water disclosure yang kemungkinan disebabkan oleh budaya sosial yaitu persepsi bahwa pengendalian atau pengambilan keputusan ditentukan oleh laki-laki sebagai kepala keluarga, sertanya rendah jumlah wanita dalam top manajemen semakin meminimalisir peran wanita.…”

Does the origin region of institutional shareholders influence water disclosure in Indonesian companies?

“…Wicaksono and Setiawan (2023) investigate the level of water disclosure in Asian mining companies and find that environmental regulation stringency, media exposure, and international operation have positive and significant influence on water disclosure. Salsabila and Adhariani (2023) examine water disclosure in Indonesian companies and find that gender diversity does not provide significant influence on the extent of water disclosure.…”

Determinants of Corporate Water Disclosure in Indonesia

“…Meanwhile, previous research has also focused a lot on the relationship between good corporate governance as reflected in the board's gender diversity, national culture, the concentration of share ownership, and water information disclosure (Bambang et al, 2020;Liu et al, 2021; Peng, Lan, Li, and Fan, 2023; Salsabila and Adhariani; Z. Zhou et al, 2020) [17,[20][21][22]. Other factors examined by previous researchers also include the relationship between stakeholder pressure (government, media exposure and public visibility, and international stakeholders) and water information disclosure (Bambang et al, 2020; Wicaksono and Setiawan, 2022) [17,23].…”