Board diversity and corporate risk disclosure during the COVID-19 outbreak

We investigate the impact of board diversity on corporate risk disclosure practices during the COVID-19 health crisis. We used manual content analysis to measure the risk disclosure on the websites of 91 French-listed companies. We found a positive relationship between risk disclosure and, respectively, the COVID-19 health crisis and the diversity of expertise within the board. We also found a negative and significant impact of the presence of women on the board of directors, diversity of nationalities, and the tenures' term, on risk disclosure. To the best of our knowledge, this research is the first study that, firstly, investigated the impact of board diversity on risk disclosure, secondly, to be investigated during the COVID-19 crisis and, thirdly, relied on corporate websites. The empirical findings make both the regulators and managers aware of the board diversity attributes that have to be reinforced to promote risk disclosure, particularly during health crises.