Board Composition and Corporate Waste Generation: A Cross‐Country Analysis of Tenure, Cultural Diversity, and Director Skills

ABSTRACT

Corporate waste generation is a material environmental outcome embedded in firms' production technologies, process design, resource use, and managerial execution. Although boards do not directly manage operational waste, they may shape waste‐related outcomes through strategic oversight, environmental investment approval, target‐setting, and monitoring of managerial action. Using panel data from publicly listed European non‐financial firms over the period 2010–2023, this study examines whether board tenure, board cultural diversity, and director skills are associated with corporate waste generation. The results show that longer board tenure is positively associated with waste generation, consistent with organizational inertia, reduced board renewal, and slower adaptation to environmental priorities. In contrast, board cultural diversity and director skills are negatively associated with waste generation, suggesting that heterogeneous perspectives and industry or financial expertise may strengthen oversight of resource‐efficiency strategies and waste‐related operational risks. The findings are robust across alternative waste measures and econometric specifications. The study contributes by showing how substantive board attributes are associated with a tangible operational environmental outcome while emphasizing that board influence is indirect, institutionally contingent, and exercised through strategic governance channels.