Does board diversity encourage an environmental policy focused on resource use, emission reduction and innovation? The case of companies in Latin America

This study examines how different motivations impact environmental corporate sustainability outcomes in terms of eco‐innovation product and process adoption, and the mediating role of eco‐innovation strategy on these relationships. The empirical study uses a sample of 271 Mexican manufacturing and services firms of all sizes, 149 of which are family firms (FFs), and applies Baron and Kenny's procedure with hierarchical regression and sensitivity analysis to test mediation. The results show that eco‐innovation strategy plays a critical mediating role in transforming eco‐innovation motivations to environmental sustainability outcomes and provides evidence of differences in the environmental sustainability behaviour of family and non‐family firms. While FFs seem to be driven mainly by internal motivations, which lead them to adopt a more proactive eco‐innovation strategy that positively influences their environmental sustainability outcomes, for non‐family firms the external pressures are the main drivers of environmental outcomes, both directly and indirectly, through the firm's eco‐innovation strategy. In light of these findings, it seems clear that the academic debate on the differences between family and non‐family firms in driving eco‐innovation strategies and outcomes remains open; thus, more research is needed to complete the picture of the eco‐innovation management domain.

Section: Samplesupporting

confidence: 75%

Motivations and outcomes of environmental corporate sustainability in family and non‐family Mexican firms: The mediating role of eco‐innovation strategy

Flores‐Rivera

Bedia

García‐Piqueres

2023

“…In addition, women directors have been found to pay more attention to the ethical responsibilities of the firms they direct (Harjoto et al, 2015). The counselling and resources that women provide to companies can lead to the adoption of policies and programs that improve the firm's position in society (de Abreu et al, 2022). Therefore, from a theoretical perspective, we can expect that boards with a higher share of women are more likely to support SGD‐related measures when setting strategic objectives for their firm.…”

Section: Theoretical Foundationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One of the many themes researched is whether BoDs can help lead a firm to greater sustainability (Bezemer et al, 2022; Enciso‐Alfaro & García‐Sánchez, 2022; Pandey et al, 2022). Scholars have examined several board characteristics for their effects on environmental outcomes, including board size, the presence of sustainability committees, board independence, board diversity and lack of separation between the CEO and the chair (CEO duality) with mixed results (Aguilera et al, 2021; Chams & García‐Blandón, 2019; de Abreu et al, 2022; Naciti et al, 2021; Prado‐Lorenzo & Garcia‐Sanchez, 2010). However, to date, this growing attention by sustainability and management scholars has been strictly driven by the potential for the SDGs to impact value creation when firms integrate efforts to solve them into their strategies (Adams, 2017).…”

Section: Theoretical Foundationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Board of Directors' characteristics and environmental SDGs adoption: an international study

Taglialatela

Maffiola

Barontini

et al. 2023

Drivers of environmentally conscious firm behaviour have gained increasing attention over past decades. The Board of Directors holds a central role in corporate decision‐making, and previous empirical evidence suggests that its characteristics could influence corporate environmental performance. This paper contributes to the literature with the first evidence of the influence certain board characteristics have on whether a firm ultimately supports one or more environmental SDGs. Our focus is on board size, gender diversity, board independence and CEO duality. Logistic and fractional regressions on 4417 globally listed firms highlight that board size, the share of female directors, and the share of independent directors are significant drivers of support for environmental SDGs. The results and insights revealed in this study should be helpful to policymakers, investors and corporations in evaluating the effectiveness of corporate governance characteristics and fostering corporate contributions to the 2030 Agenda.

“…More effective boards of directors contribute to a greater extent to the adoption of environmental strategies and are therefore crucial in improving firms' environmental performance (Gangi et al, 2019;Tseng et al, 2020). This effectiveness of the board increases with its independence or diversity (Arayakarnkul et al, 2022;Sá de Abreu et al, 2023).…”

Section: Theoretical Framework and Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In contrast, the environmental dimension addressed by the current study is under-researched. Finally, in general, studies have used multisector samples (De Masi et al, 2022;Sá de Abreu et al, 2023).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The 2030 Agenda and sustainable development in tourism firms: Board gender diversity and environmental policy on natural resource use

Gallego‐Sosa,

Fernández‐Torres,

Gutiérrez‐Fernández

2023

This study examines whether gender diversity on the board of directors determines the performance of tourism firms in terms of their use of natural resources. A variable measuring environmental performance in response to the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is created for the first time. The creation of this variable represents the main contribution of this study. Focusing on the under‐researched environmental dimension of natural resource use also contributes to the literature. A third contribution is the choice of the tourism sector, since its performance from the perspective of the SDGs has not been assessed in previous literature. Data correspond to a sample of 163 tourism companies over the period 2015–2020. Fixed effects estimation provides robust evidence of the importance of including female talent on the board of directors. Women's inclusion on the board can promote environmental policies that seek sustainable development.