Corporate social responsibility commitment of women directors through audit committees: evidence from international firms

Abstract

PurposeThis paper explores the impact of some audit committees' characteristics (executive and independent directors and directors' attendance at audit committee meetings) on CSR reporting. Moreover, it also aims to test the moderating effect of women directors on boards on the association between audit committees' characteristics and CSR disclosure.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses an international sample comprising 13,264 firm-year observations of non-financial firms from 2007 to 2018.FindingsThe results show that executive and independent directors on audit committees have a negative impact on CSR reporting, while the directors' attendance at audit committees meetings is positively associated with CSR disclosure. This study’s results also provide convincing evidence that female directors on corporate boards positively moderate the negative association between executive and independent directors on audit committees and CSR disclosure. Finally, the findings also show that female directors on corporate boards do not moderate the positive impact of directors' attendance at audit committees' meetings on CSR information.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is focused on attributes of audit committees based on a sample of international listed non-financial firms.Originality/valueThis is the first study analyzing the moderating role of female directors on boards on the relations between both executive directors on audit committees and CSR reporting and the average attendance of directors at audit committees' meetings and CSR disclosure.