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The gender theory demonstrates that women have made significant contributions to the increases of firm performance and monitoring the management. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the association between audit committee gender diversity (ACGD) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure of the firms listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange.

The authors conduct regression analysis to test the association between the presence of female members on the AC and CSR disclosure. The final sample in this study consists of 693 firm‐year observations from Iranian listed firms over the period 2012–2018. Moreover, to ensure the robustness of the findings, this study uses a series of sensitivity analysis tests.

The regression results show that ACGD has a significant positive influence on the level of CSR disclosure. The finding is robust to alternative measure of ACGD, CSR disclosure and endogeneity concern.

The findings have numerous practical implications for regulators, policy makers, managers and investors. This study has implications for Iranian regulators and policymakers and sends positive signal about recommending or requiring gender diversity on the board and its subgroups such as AC. Furthermore, the findings have implications for the investors, so that they have to make informed investment decisions given both financial factors and ACGD, and eventually invest in those firms with women membership in their AC’s composition.

Concerning with board of directors and the general assembly of shareholders, as the findings suggest the significant role of ACGD in the enhancement of CSR disclosure, boards and the general assembly are to engage women in AC composition to both increase AC efficiency and improve CSR disclosure level.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study of its kind that investigates the association between ACGD and CSR disclosure in emerging capital markets, and therefore can contribute to extend the current literature on CSR in developing countries, especially Iran’s emerging capital market.

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

Firms seeking to improve CSR reporting should consider including female members on the audit committee (AC). Gender diversity in this function can lead to decision-making based on a broader range of information and thorough consideration of potential risks involved.

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

This study aims to explore the relationship between firm risk, capital structure, cost of equity capital and social and environmental sustainability during the COVID-19 pandemic for companies listed on Tehran Stock Exchange.

To this aim, the information about 190 companies in 2014–2020 was retrieved to be analyzed. The total risk and systematic risk were used as the indicators of company risk; the industry-adjusted earnings price ratio (IndEP) and GORDON were used for the cost of equity capital. To measure social sustainability and environmental sustainability, the procedure suggested by Arianpoor and Salehi (2020) was used.

Underleveraged firms have had a lower total risk during the COVID-19 pandemic, while overleveraged firms have not had a higher risk during this time. In overleveraged firms, using systematic risk has a negative impact on social sustainability during the COVID-19 pandemic. In overleveraged firms, using total risk and systematic risk has a significant negative impact on environmental sustainability in the pandemic. Besides, overleveraged firms have a lower cost of equity capital (IndEP) during COVID-19.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no similar study has so far examined the joint impact of COVID-19 and corporate risk on social and environmental sustainability and also the joint impact of COVID-19 and capital structure on the cost of equity. This study contributes to the related literature by providing corporations with insightful post-pandemic directions on capital structure decisions and social and environmental activities. Furthermore, this research and the relevant findings can help understand and develop social responsibility in Iran as a developing country.

This paper aims to explore the extent of corporate social responsibility disclosure (hereafter CSRD) in Jordan and also examine whether ownership structure, board of directors and audit committee characteristics influence CSRD.

The extent of CSRD is measured by constructing a CSRD index for industrial firms listed on the Amman Stock Exchange from 2016 to 2021. Panel regression analysis is used to examine the potential effect of ownership structure, board of directors and audit committee on the level of CSRD.

This study provides empirical evidence that diverse groups of shareholders have different effects on CSR engagement, and board characteristics (board size, board independence and gender diversity) play a vital role in increasing voluntary disclosure, including CSR information. There is no evidence to support that CSRD is influenced by audit committee characteristics.

This study recommends that corporate regulators and policymakers can improve CSRD practices by expanding the scope of existing disclosure requirements related to CSR and developing a structured CSRD index to measure the degree of CSRD practices for comparative purposes. Encourage firms to actively participate in social responsibility programs by granting tax incentives and government facilities to firms with the best CSR reports. Policymakers should introduce initiatives that support female’s representation on board. Finally, firms should restructure their boards by increasing board size and the percentage of independent directors to enhance their effectiveness to support CSRD.

This paper contributes further insights into the literature on CSRD practices and disclosure by analyzing data from developing market contexts.