Do Board Gender Diversity and Director Typology Impact CSR Reporting?

By studying female directors and their typology, this paper contributes to the empirical evidence relating to board gender diversity and the disclosure of corporate social responsibility (CSR) information. An ordered random effect probit model was applied to a panel of Spanish non-financial and non-insurance listed firms over the 2009-2013 period. The analyses revealed that a higher percentage of women in boardrooms and in groups of outside and independent directors imply better CSR disclosure. These results hold for corporations with a critical mass of three women on the board and among outside directors.