Dynamic relationship between board gender diversity and renewable energy

Abstract

This chapter investigates whether board gender diversity affects firms’ renewable energy use. Employing a sample of U.S. environmentally responsible firms, I find support for the hypothesis that board gender diversity significantly affects the renewable energy use of U.S. firms. Specifically, I find that the previous year’s board gender diversity positively affects the current year’s renewable energy use. In contrast, concurrent board gender diversity does not lead to an increase in renewable energy use. The study findings are robust to endogeneity issues with the application of dynamic estimation models such as the generalized method of moments (GMM). The study contributes to a rare strand of literature and provides valuable insight into firms in the context of increasing pressure to embrace sustainability practices.