Board gender diversity and accounting conservatism: the role of corporate social responsibility

Purpose - This paper aims to provide deeper insights into the relationship between board gender diversity (BGD) and accounting conservatism by exploring the mediating role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) underlying this relationship. Design/methodology/approach - The authors sample 10,252 firm-year observations from 932 publicly listed firms in 15 European countries over the 2010–2020 period. The authors conduct several models for panel data, applying mediation mechanisms, the Heckman two-stage model and the generalized method of moments and instrumental variable regressions to test the research hypotheses and account for endogeneity problems as well as unobservable heterogeneity. Findings - Based on an integrated theoretical framework that draws insights from agency, resource dependence and stakeholder theories, the authors establish a positive and significant relationship between BGD and accounting conservatism, which is significantly mediated by CSR. The authors provide empirical evidence for the prior inconsistent results on the gender diversity-conservative accounting link and suggest that BGD promotes effective corporate governance and enhances CSR performance, which in turn, leads to higher conservatism in financial reporting. Practical implications - The findings have important implications for regulators, policymakers and managers in understanding the drivers to ensure and control the quality of financial reporting. The results alert firms to the need to focus not only on the importance of BGD but also on CSR activities to ensure higher earnings reporting quality. Social implications - The results are significant in encouraging a higher presence of women on corporate boards, enhancing CSR performance and drawing social attention to mitigating earnings management practices through higher conservatism in financial reporting. Originality/value - This paper recognized a gap in the literature not yet examined and contributed to the body of knowledge through the mediating role of CSR in the relationship between gender diversity and accounting conservatism.