Does Board Gender Diversity Moderate the Relationship between Institutional Ownership and ESG Performance? Evidence from China

This paper empirically investigated the impact of institutional ownership on corporate environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) performance among Chinese listed firms between 2011 and 2022, taking into account the moderating effect of board gender diversity. The empirical results indicated that institutional ownership has a positive impact on corporate ESG performance. Moreover, the relationship between institutional ownership and corporate ESG performance was positively moderated by board gender diversity. The findings demonstrated that institutional ownership and board gender diversity can alleviate firms’ resource constraints by providing resource support, enabling firms to engage more actively in ESG practices. Consequently, enhances their ESG performance. The combination of sufficient financial resources and diverse human capital can create a competitive advantage for enhancing corporate ESG performance, which provides guidance to firms and policymakers on how to promote corporate sustainable development in China.