Intellectual Capital, Environmental, Social and Governance, Competitive Advantage and Firm’s Value in ASIA’s Companies: The Role of Board Gender Diversity

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the influence of intellectual capital (IC), environmental, social, and governance (ESG), and competitive advantage (CA) on firm value (FV), with board gender diversity (BGD) as a moderating variable. Methodology/Design/Approach: the population of this study consists of companies in the Asia region during the period from 2015 to 2023. The sample was selected based on specific criteria and obtained from 637 companies with 5,733 observations. The analysis tools used are multiple regressions and moderated multiple regressions. Finding/Result: the research findings indicate that IC has a negative and significant impact on FV. ESG performance has a positive and not significant impact on FV, while CA has positive and significant impact on FV. BGD can moderates the relationship between IC, ESG, and CA on FV. It is strengthening the relationship between CA on FV and weakening the relationship between IC and ESG on FV. Practical Implications: Companies must pay attention to IC, CA and BGD because these three variables influence investor reactions in determining investments. The government needs to monitor corporate activities related to ESG to ensure that these activities are part of a sustainable business strategy. Institutions related to sustainability issues need to develop standard disclosures for ESG disclosure. Originality/Value: the results of this research are an important contribution to signal theory and Resource-Based Theory. There hasn't been much previous research using BGD as a moderating variable and it is a novelty of this research.