Board Diversity and Corporate Social Responsibility: Evidence from Iranian Firms

According to agency theory, board of directors plays an important monitoring role in reducing information asymmetry and increasing the transparency of financial statements and social responsibility. This research is concerned with examining board diversity and social responsibility of the firms listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange during the years 2011-2015. To do so, a sample of 98 firms was selected using systematic random sampling method. The results indicate that board gender diversity is not significantly associated with corporate social responsibility disclosure at 5% level of significance, whereas the proportion of outside directors is significantly correlated with corporate social responsibility disclosure.