Board structure, financial performance, corporate social responsibility performance, CSR committee, and CEO duality: Disentangling the connection in healthcare

Abstract Despite the growing importance of responsible behavior in the healthcare sector, research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) in association with board structure is scarce. Hence, the objective of this study is twofold: (1) to test whether a board structure is associated with firm financial and CSR performance and (2) whether the CSR committee and CEO duality moderates this association in the healthcare sector. Examining the moderation of CSR committee is important to understand whether CSR committee strengthens or weakens the link between female directors and CSR performance. Moreover, CEO duality's moderation will highlight whether powerful CEOs are a barrier for female directors' monitoring role. The data for the study was derived from the Thomson Reuters Eikon database for the years between 2011–2018. Overall, the results suggest that while female directors contribute to firm performance, CEOs with dual roles and larger boards harm firm performance. Further, independent directors have a limited contribution to CSR performance whereas they have no contribution to financial performance. Moderation analysis shows that CSR committees and female directors are not the replacement of one another; they are both needed and beneficial to the corporate structure. Although CEOs with a dual role impair the performance of a firm, they do not exert considerable influence on the other directors. As one of the important functions of a board is monitoring, these findings assist healthcare firms to configure their boards to improve their monitoring functions. The results are therefore helpful in terms of alleviating agency costs and in appeasing stakeholders.