The impact of board cultural diversity on a firm's commitment toward the sustainability issues of emerging countries: The mediating effect of a CSR committee

This study attempts to improve the understanding of how factors related to the board of directors in emerging countries from America determine a firm's sustainability performance. This paper examines the effect of board cultural diversity and the mediating effect of the existence of a corporate social responsibility (CSR) committee. To test our objectives, we carried out a sample analysis on data gathered between 2012 and 2018 from a group of firms located in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico. The results suggest that board cultural diversity promotes a firm's commitment toward sustainability issues and leads to higher social and environmental performance. Moreover, the results show the mediating effect of the existence of a CSR committee, where a positive impact on sustainability performance appears to be linked to board cultural diversity.