Environmental performance disclosure, family firm status and board gender diversity

Building on agency, stakeholder and resource dependence theories, we argue that board gender diversity (BGD) positively moderates the negative relationship between family business status and environmental performance disclosure (EPD). Our hypothesis is tested and confirmed on a panel data sample of 324 Italian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) listed on the Euronext Growth Milan (EGM) between 2018 and 2020. Vis-à- vis non-family firms, companies with a family firm status are characterized by lower levels of EPD. The gender diversity on board, however, is bound to reduce this gap, to the extent the family firm status is associated with higher EPD when the number of women directors is high enough to constitute a critical mass. We consequently contribute to the studies on family business, corporate governance and CSR.