Corporate social responsibility strategy and corporate environmental and social performance: The moderating role of board gender diversity

Drawing on upper echelons and resource dependence theories and using data of European listed companies over the period 2009-2016, we examine the effects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy and board gender diversity on environmental and social performance. In particular, we investigate whether CSR strategy contributes to improving corporate environmental and social performance, and whether this relationship is moderated by board gender diversity. Our empirical findings suggest that firms with more effective CSR strategies exhibit better environmental and social performance. The results also show that board gender diversity is positively associated with environmental and social performance, thus supporting the notion that board gender diversity promotes sustainable development. Furthermore, the findings reveal that the positive relationship between CSR strategy and environmental performance is negatively moderated by board gender diversity. Finally, the results show that that national governance quality and firm size are important underlying factors affecting corporate environmental and social performance.