 Do female CEOs lead more ethical firms? ESG and corporate impactMustafa A. Dah, Walid Elgammal, Bilal Kchouri and Adnan Marrouche International Review of Financial Analysis, 2025, vol. 105, issue C Abstract: We study how CEO gender affects ESG disclosures and their impact on corporate policies and performance. Our results highlight a positive association between female CEOs and ESG disclosures. We also show that the conduct of female CEOs aligns more closely with stakeholder theory and has favorable implications for the relationship between ESG activities and corporate policies. Specifically, female CEOs enhance the role of ESG disclosures in increasing accounting transparency and reducing corporate risk-taking. In addition, female-led ESG initiatives positively affect both accounting and market performance. Our results highlight the heightened ethical values of female CEOs compared to their male counterparts, emphasizing their fundamental role in shaping the impact and value of ESG activities. Morally-driven ESG activities, signaling an ethical and stakeholder-friendly corporate culture, set authentic sustainability initiatives apart from mere compliance or potential window-dressing practices. Keywords: ESG; Female CEOs; Accounting transparency; Corporate risk-taking; Firm performance (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:finana:v:105:y:2025:i:c:s1057521925004958 DOI: 10.1016/j.irfa.2025.104408 Access Statistics for this article International Review of Financial Analysis is currently edited by B.M. Lucey More articles in International Review of Financial Analysis from Elsevier |
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