Promoting Sustainability in Healthcare: Unraveling the Mechanism of Diversity's Impact in the Pharmaceutical Sector

Although research on sustainability in the healthcare sector is growing, limited attention has been paid to how pharmaceutical companies can be motivated to engage more actively in achieving net-zero healthcare goals. This study argues that the breadth of directors' experiences—across educational, industrial, and organizational domains—can serve as a catalyst for prioritizing environmental strategies. Employing a sample of publicly listed Chinese pharmaceutical firms from 2007 to 2023, we substantiate the affirmative influence of board experiential diversity on corporate environmental strategy. Furthermore, CEO power, particularly CEOs' environmental expertise, strengthens firms' commitment to environmental initiatives. We also show that boards in non-state-owned enterprises located in economically advanced regions play a more influential role in environmental decision-making. By highlighting the role of board experiential diversity, this study contributes to the Upper Echelons Theory literature and offers new insights into governance-driven sustainability in the pharmaceutical sector.