Date of Award

5-2024

Degree Type

Dissertation-Restricted

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Program

Financial Economics

Department

Economics and Finance

Major Professor

M.Kabir Hassan

Second Advisor

Gregory N. Price

Third Advisor

Arja Turunen-Red

Abstract

In the past decade, there has been growing interest in the influence of diverse boards on risk management, particularly with regard to environmental risk management. However, limited evidence exists on the role of diverse boards in policy decisions, especially the adoption of green credit policy in the banking sector. Drawing on critical mass theory, this study investigates the importance of board gender diversity and the critical mass of women directors that could make a positive impact of green credit policy adoption for global banks. Data was collected for 540 banks operating in 34 countries, covering ten years (2013-2022). The study employed various regression techniques, including panel probit and pooled OLS on unbalanced panel data. The results suggest that banks with a critical mass of four (4) women directors on boards are more likely to adopt green credit policy. We confirm the dynamism in critical mass for women directors through various robust analyses. Our results also hold after controlling for endogeneity and are robust when we use alternative proxies. These results have important policy implications for the global banking sector. We advocate for careful examination of the appropriate number of women representation for policy decisions in the banking sector which could vary across the globe due to a diverse range of exogenous factors. The study contributes to the literature on board diversity and provides insights into how diversity can improve green credit practices for the banking industry. The concept of financial inclusion has evolved beyond the discourse on financial stability and social development, now encompassing not only low-cost retail deposits of large banks that generate arbitrage gains but also banks situated in technologically advanced areas. This study investigates the consequences of the role driven by Fintech-based financial inclusion (FFI) in influencing the relationship between bank risk-taking and ESG (environmental, social, and governance) activities. Our findings show that ESG activity reduces bank risk-taking, suggesting that increased involvement in ESG activities by banks will lead to a reduction in risk. Additionally, FFI acts as a mediator in the connection between bank risk and ESG.

Rights

The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.

Download

Available for download on Friday, April 04, 2025

Share

COinS