Investigating how board gender diversity affects environmental, social and governance performance: Evidence from the utilities sector

This study investigates the effect of board gender diversity (BGD) on environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance. This study considers the utilities sector as it has contributed more to Agenda 2030 than the non-environmental sectors. Specifically, the sample includes 53 utility firms from 15 European Union countries. The data is extracted from the Bloomberg database from 2011 to 2021. We apply the ordinary least squares technique and find that BGD positively influences ESG performance; this effect becomes stronger in the presence of at least three female board members. This study provides implications for practitioners and stakeholders of utility firms.