The Effect of Board Gender Diversity on Environmental Performance During COVID: The Moderating Effects of National Culture

The issue of Board Gender Diversity (BGD) and its impact on firm outcomes have been widely researched. However, past research primarily focused on financial results during a stable economic environment. In addition, when examining international firms, the impact of national culture received little emphasis when determining the presence of female directors on the board. This study elaborates on BGD by examining the moderating effects of cultural dimensions (indulgence, long-term orientation, and power distance) and its impact on environmental performance during the COVID-19 pandemic. The empirical analysis is conducted using 278 pharmaceutical firms from 29 countries. Examining firms' environmental performance pre and during, our results reveal that BGD positively impacts firms' environmental performance during the pandemic. In addition, the cultural trait of indulgence positively moderates, while power distance negatively moderates the impact of BGD on environmental performance during the pandemic. However, long-term orientation does not moderate this relationship.