Board diversity and quality of CSR disclosure: evidence from Pakistan Imran Khan, Ismail Khan and Ismail Senturk Abstract Purpose – This study aims to examine the relationship between board diversity and quality of corporate social responsibility (QCSR) disclosure. Design/methodology/approach – The study estimates seven dimensions of board diversity including age, gender, nation, ethnicity, educational level, educational background and tenure by applying Blau’s index. The relationship between board diversity and QCSR disclosure from the perspective of the resource-based view theory is estimated by using panel random effects regression across 57 firms producing exclusive sustainability reports listed in the Pakistan Stock Exchange from 2010 to 2017. The robustness of the results has also been checked through alternative measurements of the variables under study. Findings – The regression results reveal that gender and national diversities are the firms’ valuable resources, having the potential to promote QCSR disclosure. However, age diversity was found to be negatively associated to QCSR disclosure. Furthermore, educational level, educational background, ethnicity and tenure were insignificant on QCSR disclosure. The sensitivity analysis supports the findings of the baseline model. Research limitations/implications – Pakistani firms need to improve the level of board diversity through encouragement of the inclusion of diverse forces of gender and nationality to enhance disclosure on CSR practices. Originality/value – This is the first study on board diversity and QCSR in the case of Pakistan. Keywords Pakistan, Board diversity, QCSR disclosure, RBV theory Paper type Research paper Introduction Growing national and global concern on the role of businesses in society attracted a considerable attention of regulators, boards and media. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure has become an important issue among firms and is used as a marketing tool to increase awareness (McWilliams and Siegel, 2001) so as to fulfill the increasing demand of various groups of stakeholders, particularly investors (Saleh et al., 2011), because of its attractive consequences reflected in corporate performance (Qiu et al., 2016), trust and reputation (El Ghoul et al., 2011), strong stakeholders relationship (Garcia- Sanchez et al., 2014), transparency and accountability (Boulouta, 2013), corporate legitimacy (Beddewela and Fairbrass, 2016) and lower cost of capital through better cash flow management (Jizi, 2017). The extent of literature reveals a strong relationship between good corporate governance (CG) and firms’ market evaluation (Ahmed Sheikh and Wang, 2012; Mishra and Kapil, 2017) and that the board of directors is considered the cornerstone of governance frameworks (Rathnayaka Mudiyanselageb, 2018; Assenga et al., 2018; Murphy and McIntyre, 2007). The board of directors is arguably obligated to set CSR agendas, devote firm resources and develop strategies for sustainable corporate operations (Jizi, 2017). Therefore, board Imran Khan is based at the Department of Management Sciences, Institute of Information Technology, Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South, Islamabad, Pakistan. Ismail Khan is based at the Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South, Islamabad, Pakistan. Ismail Senturk is based at the Department of Economics, Gaziosmanpas a University, Tokat, Turkey. Received 4 December 2018 Revised 16 May 2019 Accepted 17 May 2019 DOI 10.1108/CG-12-2018-0371 VOL. 19 NO. 6 2019, pp. 1187-1203, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1472-0701 j CORPORATE GOVERNANCE j PAGE 1187