Board gender diversity, female leaders and corporate environmental responsibility: a structured literature review

Abstract Purpose—Nowadays, there is an increasing social, economic, and regu- latory pressure on firms to improve their corporate environmental performance (CEP). CEP is an important subset of the overall corporate social responsibility and refers to the specific efforts firms undertake to save energy and decrease pollution as well as to the activities geared towards promoting environmental protection. In view of the increased attention to corporate environmental responsibility, scholars have begun to explore the potential drivers of CEP including board gender diversity (BGD) and female representation in management. Researchers assume that female directors and managers are more sensitive to environmental issues and care more about the needs of other stakeholders beyond shareholders. However, the empirical research has yielded mixed results. Some studies show that firms with greater BGD or female leadership have a better CEP, while others find no significant association or even a negative one. The purpose of this chapter is to review and systematize the empirical literature on board gender diversity, female leaders and CEP and to outline an agenda for future research. Methodology—We first conducted a Scopus search to take stock of the empirical works on gender diversity and CEP, then we analyzed relevant articles using the SRL methodology combined with an in-depth content analysis, in order to identify the main research topics and the major existing gaps.