Board gender diversity and ESG decoupling: Does religiosity matter?

Abstract In this paper, we examine the relationship between board gender diversity and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) decoupling and the moderating effect that religiosity has on this relationship. We utilise an international sample of 26,176 firm‐year observations that cover the period from 2005 to 2019. Consistent with the upper echelon theory and the gender socialisation theory, we provide evidence that firms with a more gender‐diversified board of directors tend to engage less in ESG decoupling, and this relationship is more pronounced among firms domiciled in countries with a low level of religiosity. We also find that the effect of religiosity on the relationship between board gender…