Board gender diversity and transparency of environmental, social and governance disclosure: Evidence from Malaysia

This study aims to investigate the effect of board gender diversity on the transparency of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosures in an emerging market such as Malaysia. Dataset is comprised of 568 firm‐year observations from 78 firms listed on the Bursa Malaysia. Ordinary least squares regression analysis of the data shows that ESG disclosure scores are significantly improved with the increasing presence of women directors on corporate boards. However, when the individual components are studied, the impact of board gender diversity varies. This study contributes to the limited but growing literature on ESG reporting quality and board gender diversity especially in emerging economies.