Energy transition disclosures and female directors: Do gender egalitarian societies matter?

Abstract

[EN] The fight against climate change and the energy transition requires significant business transformations and changes. In this sense, the information that companies report on their energy strategy is essential to understand and value business interest and efforts to contribute to the protection of ecosystems and human life on the planet. In this regard, the aim of this article is to analyse the role that women directors are playing in business transparency in energy matters and whether their role is determined by the level of gender parity that characterizes the countries of origin of the companies analysed. The academic and practical interest in these relationships is based on various theoretical frameworks that indicate gender equality is closely associated with greater concern for systems and elements in situations of real vulnerability, generating organizational changes aligned with these concerns. For a sample of 8757 companies based in 65 countries, we observed that gender parity at the country level positively affects the information that companies report regarding their energy transition strategy towards more responsible models that help mitigate climate change. We also identified a mediating effect of board gender diversity on this relationship. The findings are robust to changes in methodological specifications. This evidence confirms the existence of a direct and indirect impact of equal development between women and men in a society on the energy transition and business inclusivity. Additionally, although these relationships are observed for the entire period analysed (2016–2022), the effect of the disruptive phenomena that occurred between 2020 and 2022 favours both business transformations and inclusivity.