Gender Diversity within Audit Committee, Board of Directors and Chief Financial Officer and Disclosure of Corporate Social Responsibility: An Altruism Theory Test

Abstract

Objective: It is widely believed that every human being naturally considers his or her own interests to be the priority of others, that is, instinctively and unconsciously pursuing his or her own benefits. However, according to Altruism theory, women, due to their different ethical characteristics, prioritize the interests of others and may improve it by taking into account the interests and rights of others in terms of social responsibility. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of gender diversity on corporate social responsibility. Methods: For this purpose, 131 companies listed in the Tehran Stock Exchange during the years 2012 to 2017 were selected and to measure gender diversity, three variables of gender presence of female member in 1. Audit Committee, 2. Board of Directors and 3. Chief financial officer were used. To test the research hypotheses, regression analysis with panel data was used. Results: The empirical results of the research show that the presence of a female member in the audit committee, board of directors and the position of chief financial officer had a significant and positive impact on disclosure of corporate social responsibility, which is in accordance with the aims of the theory of Altruism. Conclusion: Based on research findings, the presence of a female representative in a company would provide an environment in which the company would take steps towards social responsibility and meet the supra-institutional values, due to principle's superior talent and her senior management competence.

Keywords

• altruism theory
• audit committee
• board of directors
• gender diversity
• social responsibility