Demographic attributes of directors and CSR: What is the link in the French context?

Abstract

This work aims to study the impact of directors' demographic attributes on corporate social responsibility (CSR), and more specifically, the impact of gender diversity, foreign directors and directors' age on CSR. Our sample consists of 63 French companies listed on the SBF 120 index observed over a ten-year period between the years 2008 and 2017. To understand the relationship between directors' demographic attributes and CSR, we analyzed our data with a random-effects regression model. The results obtained show that the presence of women, measured by the proportion of female directors on the board and the Blau index, positively impacts CSR. The age of directors also has a positive and highly significant effect on CSR. On the other hand, non-French directors do not have a significant effect on CSR.

Keywords: Gender diversity, Age of directors, Aon-French administrators, CSR

Classification JEL : M14

Paper type: Empirical Research