Do Women Leaders Promote Sustainability? Analyzing the Effect of Corporate Governance Composition on Environmental Performance. (13th March 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Glass, Christy; Cook, Alison; Ingersoll, Alicia R.
• Is Part Of: Business strategy and the environment. Volume 25:Number 7(2016)
• Page Start: 495
• Page End: 511
• Publication Date: 2015-03-13
• Subjects: gender -- diversity -- leadership -- homophily -- organizations -- environmental strategy; Industrial management -- Environmental aspects -- Periodicals; Industries -- Environmental aspects -- Periodicals; 658.4083
• DOI: 10.1002/bse.1879
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0964-4733

Abstract

Abstract: In this study, we investigate the impact women leaders have on the corporate environmental strategies of organizations. Using a dataset of all Fortune 500 CEOs and boards of directors for a ten‐year period, we examine several aspects of gender in leadership on environmental strategy. Specifically, we test the impact of women CEOs, the proportion of women on the BOD, the number of interlinks women board members hold, and the interactive and cumulative effects of women CEOs and gender diverse boards. Findings suggest that firms characterized by gender diverse leadership teams are more effective than other firms at pursuing environmentally friendly strategies. This study contributes to research on corporate governance and environmental performance by showing how the gender composition of leaders affects corporate practice. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment