Corporate social responsibility reporting and capital structure: Does board gender diversity mind in such association?

This research aims to shed light on the effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure on capital structure, a significant strategic policy for all listed companies. Furthermore, it aims to explore the moderating effect of the presence of female directors on corporate boards on the relationship between CSR disclosure and capital structure. We use an international sample of 48 countries for the years 2007-2019 collected from the Thomson Reuters database. This study uses the GMM procedure to estimate the model of the association between the disclosure of CSR information and capital structure and the moderating effect of board gender diversity in such relationship. Drawing on agency theory, the results support the negative relationship between CSR disclosure and capital structure. Moreover, our findings also reveal that board gender diversity does not moderate the association between CSR disclosure and capital structure.