The Effect of Women’s Presence on the Board of Directors on the Environmental Performance of Companies Listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange

Background: Environmental performance not only strengthens social legitimacy, but it also leads to a positive, competitive context, since it increases the productivity, and stimulates innovation in environmental performance it is highly important to adopt effective strategies to reduce the environmental consequences of industrial activities. Today, to protect the environment, the eventual goal is to achieve sustainable development in the form of economic programs harmonious with the principles of environmental protection and preventing the destruction and depletion of renewable and non-renewable resources. Environmental performance not only acts in the direction of strengthening social legitimacy, but it can also lead to a competitive force, because it increases productivity, stimulates innovation and attracts the organization for high potentiality in environmental performance. The existence of the educational programs on environmental assets can change the common mental assumptions about the importance of the environment, which subsequently changes the environmental culture. Researchers in this field showed that environmental education has a positive relationship with environmental culture. Management support for environmental projects is one of the most important factors in expanding and strengthening the environmental culture in any organization.
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of women in the board of directors on the environmental performance of companies.
Methodology: In terms of the practical purpose and in terms of the type of study, the current research is a library field, using past information in a retrospective approach. In addition, it is a type of quasi-experimental research in the field of descriptive research. Based on the research method, correlation is that in this type of research, the relationship between variables is analyzed based on the purpose of the research. In this research, the required information was collected by an extensive study of research articles and research background in this field. To collect the required data, it was also used through viewing the financial statements and notes attached to the financial statements, other reports of companies and the stock exchange organization. To achieve this goal, the data of 160 companies listed on Tehran Stock Exchange during the years 2016 to 2020 were collected and analyzed. The research method is logit regression and panel data.
Findings: The Findings show that the women’s participation on the board of directors of companies has increased the environmental performance.
Conclusion: This research indicates that the presence of women in the board of directors has a positive effect on the environmental performance of companies. Even in the European Commission, a plan has been presented to introduce a mandatory quota of women on company boards, based on the fact that companies with more female directors on the board are better managed than men on various issues (European Commission, b 2012). Akbari (2012) concluded in his research that women in most countries take more practical actions to protect the environment and optimal use of resources than men. The results of some studies display that the presence of women in the board of directors positively affects the environmental performance of companies. Women’s participation on the board can increase the company's ability to create and absorb various resources (such as; knowledge, communication, reputation, and information) to perform the responsibilities of managers on behalf of shareholders. The combination of skills resulting from gender diversity on the board leads to the creation of the necessary expertise to focus on consulting, legitimacy, and communication channels, in addition to the above, increases the company's attention to complex environmental issues and leads to improvements in the environmental performance of companies. Therefore, our research provides valuable direction for those firms working to improve both their boards’ gender diversity and their environmental performance. According to the obtained results, it is suggested that Tehran Stock Exchange Organization and the subject managers pay more attention to the environmental performance of the companies in the capital market and impose requirements to increase attention to the environmental issues of the companies admitted to the stock exchange. Also, due to the wide range of problems and dilemmas related to the environment, environmental education is necessary in the society. Therefore, more measures should be to complete and executive planning, to raise the public awareness and general environmental education for all sections of society, especially women.