Board gender diversity and environmental, social and corporate governance performance: evidence from ASEAN banks

Purpose This study examines the associations between board gender diversity and banks' environmental, social and corporate governance performance in the ASEAN context. Design/methodology/approach The study uses a sample of yearly observations for ASEAN banks over the period 2011-2016. Generalized method of moments (GMM) regression is used for the main models, and the findings are supported by other robustness tests, namely ordinary least squares (OLS) regression and panel models (fixed and random effect regression). Findings The findings imply that board gender diversity positively influences corporate governance performance, although it has no impact on the banks' environmental and social performance. Research limitations/implications This study offers insights to regulators, investors and bank managers concerning board diversity and its impact on environmental, social and corporate governance performance. The findings imply that having a specific percentage of female directors on the board positively influences corporate governance performance. However, the impact of gender diversity on environmental and social performance is not supported. Originality/value Few empirical studies have examined the impact of gender diversity on non-financial performance. This study contributes to the debate on the importance of gender diversity by providing empirical evidence for the impact of board gender diversity on three non-performance measures (environmental, social and corporate governance) for ASEAN banks, a topic not previously examined. There is scant attention to it in ASEAN countries, which have unique characteristics, and there remains a gap in the literature regarding the impact of board diversity among banks in this region. The findings of the study are confirmed by several robustness tests.