The Impact of Female Directors in Chinese Listed Companies on Corporate ESG Ratings: An Analysis of the Moderating Effects of the Number of Female Executives and R&D Investment

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-309-2_3How to use a DOI?

Keywords

ESG performance; Number of female directors; Number of female executives; R&D investment; Panel regression

Abstract

The concept of sustainable development for enterprises, proposed in the 1940s, has sparked extensive debate, prompting researchers to develop suitable evaluation systems that guide companies in balancing economic performance with the sustainable development of the social environment. ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) investment strategies, which holistically consider environmental impacts, social responsibility, and corporate governance, have gained significant attention and adoption. Concurrently, the increasing participation of female directors on corporate boards, driven by the enhancement of women’s status, necessitates an examination of their impact on ESG performance due to their unique decision-making preferences, risk aversion, diligence in supervision, and stronger motivation to benefit the company compared to their male counterparts. This study utilizes ESG rating data from Syntao Green Finance and selects A-share listed companies in Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Beijing from 2015 to 2022 as samples. Employing panel data regression, the study systematically examines the impact of both the absolute and relative numbers of female directors on ESG performance. Furthermore, the study introduces moderating variables to analyze the changes in this relationship while considering the involvement of female executives and corporate R&D investment. Findings indicate a positive correlation between the number of female directors and the ESG performance of listed companies. Additionally, the number of female executives and corporate R&D investment exhibit different moderating effects, with the former showing a negative impact and the latter a positive impact on this relationship.

Copyright

© 2024 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Ziyuan Jia
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/12/09
TI  - The Impact of Female Directors in Chinese Listed Companies on Corporate ESG Ratings: An Analysis of the Moderating Effects of the Number of Female Executives and R&D Investment
BT  - Proceedings of the 2024 9th International Conference on Modern Management, Education and Social Sciences (MMET 2024)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 14
EP  - 24
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-309-2_3
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-309-2_3
ID  - Jia2024
ER  -