The Influence of Board Factors and Gender Diversity on the ESG Disclosure Score: A Study on Indian Companies

Abstract

The focus of stakeholders is shifting from the growth of profits and maximizing shareholders’ wealth towards more sustainable growth. The stakeholders are carefully emphasizing various environmental, social and governance issues, such as low carbon economy, climate change adaptation, social impact, transparency in governance etc. This, in turn, is increasing investors’ attention and interest in environment, social and governance (ESG) factors. Many investors are integrating ESG considerations into their mainstream portfolios. This article aims to study the impact of board factors on the ESG disclosure score of Indian listed companies. Using panel data for 327 firms listed on NSE and BSE over 7 years, this study examines the impact of board characteristics on the ESG disclosure score of a firm. We apply two-way fixed effect panel regression for analysis and find that board size and board gender diversity are the two significant factors playing a positive influence on the ESG disclosure score for the sample companies. CEO duality is a consistent factor across all the tested models impacting the ESG disclosure score.