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Gender Diversity in Bank Boardrooms and Green Lending: Evidence from Euro Area Credit Register Data

Leonardo Gambacorta et al.

Review of Corporate Finance Studies2025https://doi.org/10.1093/rcfs/cfaf026article
AJG 3ABDC A*
Weight
0.37

Abstract

We investigate whether female representation on bank boards influences lending to polluting firms. Using confidential credit register data matched with firm-level greenhouse gas emissions, we isolate credit supply effects. Our findings reveal that banks with more gender-diverse boards lend less to more polluting firms, particularly those with the highest emission levels. These results are robust to endogeneity concerns as well as a range of alternative model specifications and econometric variations. Evidence from a European Central Bank large exposures data set confirms that this effect holds across different lending contexts. We also find that gender-diverse boards are less likely to initiate new lending relationships with highly polluting firms, suggesting an effect on both the intensive and extensive margins of credit allocation.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1093/rcfs/cfaf026

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@article{leonardo2025,
  title        = {{Gender Diversity in Bank Boardrooms and Green Lending: Evidence from Euro Area Credit Register Data}},
  author       = {Leonardo Gambacorta et al.},
  journal      = {Review of Corporate Finance Studies},
  year         = {2025},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1093/rcfs/cfaf026},
}

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Gender Diversity in Bank Boardrooms and Green Lending: Evidence from Euro Area Credit Register Data

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Evidence weight

0.37

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.16 × 0.4 = 0.06
M · momentum0.53 × 0.15 = 0.08
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.