Gender diversity on the board and in top management and ESG performance: evidence from Italian non-financial listed companies

This study explores the relationship between the percentage of women directors and managers (PWDM) and women CEOs on one hand, and the ESG performance of companies on the other. We carried out a panel analysis on 290 Italian non-financial listed companies over 2015–2022. Our results demonstrate that there is a negative relationship between PWDM and ESG ratings, but when the company’s CEO is a woman, the Bloomberg ESG score and E score from LSEG and E and S scores from Bloomberg are positively influenced by a PWDM close to or above 50%. We also find that ESG performance is mainly associated with the percentage of independent directors, number of employees, firm age and certain financial variables, including ROA, ROA volatility, Tobin’s Q and P/E. The novelty of this study lies, among other things, in examining the relationship between corporate governance and sustainability while focusing on operational roles in addition to board membership. The study may also have important implications for policies and programmes to promote gender equality in the broader context of Diversity and Inclusion.