Gender Diversity on Corporate Boards: Do Women Contribute Unique Skills?

2016 ◽  
Vol 106 (5) ◽  
pp. 267-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daehyun Kim ◽  
Laura T. Starks
Keyword(s):  
Firm Value ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Corporate Boards ◽  
Women Directors ◽  
Corporate Board ◽  
Valuation Effects ◽  
Female Directors ◽  
Gender Diverse ◽  
Board Performance

We show that gender diversity in corporate boards could improve firm value because of the contributions that women make to the board. Prior studies examine valuation effects of gender-diverse boards and reach mixed conclusions. To help resolve this conundrum, we consider how gender diversity could affect firm value, that is, what mechanisms could explain how female directors benefit corporate board performance. We hypothesize and provide evidence that women directors contribute to boards by offering specific functional expertise, often missing from corporate boards. The additional expertise increases board heterogeneity which Kim and Starks (2015) show can increase firm value.

Women directors and IPO underpricing: evidence from Indian markets

2015 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 186-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rekha Handa ◽  
Balwinder Singh
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Corporate Boards ◽  
Women Directors ◽  
Ipo Underpricing ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Gender Balance ◽  
Female Directors ◽  
Gender Diverse

Purpose – This paper aims to fill the gap of the relatively under-researched impact of women directors on initial public offering (IPO) underpricing in developing countries. Gender diversity is an important emerging issue within the corporate governance literature. Recently, there has been a growing thrust on gender-diverse boards. However, their proportion on corporate boards is low worldwide. The paper examines the influence of women directors on the underpricing phenomenon pervasive in the IPO context. Design/methodology/approach – Gender diversity is an important emerging issue within the corporate governance literature. Recently, there has been a growing thrust on gender diverse boards. However, their proportion on corporate boards is low worldwide. The impact of women directors on IPO underpricing in developing countries remains relatively under-researched. This paper aims to fill this gap in research. The paper examines the influence of women directors on the underpricing phenomenon pervasive in the IPO context. Findings – The results suggest that the subscription ratio, listing delay and block holder ownership positively influence raw returns and market-adjusted excess returns. The proportion of women directors showed negative non-significant impact on both type of returns. We did not find evidence of the other explanatory variables included in the model. Research limitations/implications – The relatively low proportion of female directors may be the reason for some of the non-significant findings. Future research with a good gender balance on boards is likely to help generalising the findings. Other confounding factors also need to be included in the model for deeper explanations of the phenomenon. Practical implications – The study highlights the existence of a “glass ceiling” in Indian corporate settings, where women have to make a tough fight. This barrier must be removed to unleash the real talent of women as directors and see this talent reflected in returns. Social implications – The paper highlights both the need to better manage the gender balance in corporate board rooms and the need to incorporate women’s talents in corporate and investment decisions. Originality/value – The paper highlights the significant gender gap in IPO directorial positions in developing countries such as India. It explores female directors’ contributions in initial pricing performance, which remain unaddressed in this part of the world. Insights into this sensitive issue in an emerging economy such as India can provide important inputs.

scholarly journals Presence of Women on Board: Reference to BSE-30 Companies from 2010-2014

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-30
Author(s):  
Nisa S
Keyword(s):  
Boards Of Directors ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Corporate Boards ◽  
Women Directors ◽  
Global Workforce ◽  
Talent Pool ◽  
Women Employees ◽  
Board Performance ◽  
Changing Demographics

The need for gender diversity in the board rooms is getting accepted at corporate levels both national and international. Any change which is brought about voluntarily is more effective and long lasting. Gender representation on corporate boards of directors refers to the proportion of men and women who occupy board member positions. Studies have shown that even though there is no real dearth of talent pool, India, comparatively, has significantly a very low percentage of women representation on boards. No one doubts the importance of diversity in boardrooms, especially in improving corporate governance. With the changing demographics of the global workforce and the fact that women will control 75% of discretionary spending by 2028, globally companies cannot underestimate the importance of improving the gender balance on their boards. Women are increasingly becoming a major driver of the economy, both as contributors and as customers; it is appropriate that they be a part of the team leading companies. Past researches have shown that boards with more women members act as a motivator to other women employees within the organization. Continuing reliance on existing directors is likely to dilute the quality of board members. Broadening the talent pool by including women directors will help boards get skilled and competent members with a diversity of perspectives and leadership styles who can significantly contribute to board performance. The following study was conducted to assess the presence of women on board in BSE 30 listed companies from 2010 to 2014.

Legitimacy profiles of women directors on top French company boards

2015 ◽  
Vol 34 (7) ◽  
pp. 803-820 ◽  
Author(s):  
Val Singh ◽  
Sebastien Point ◽  
Yves Moulin ◽  
Andrès Davila
Keyword(s):  
Management Development ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Academic Excellence ◽  
Gender Quotas ◽  
Corporate Boards ◽  
Women Directors ◽  
Corporate Board ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Female Directors ◽  
Short Space

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to question the profiles of female directors on top French company boards. It explores the legitimacy attributes of current female directors to identify the profiles sought recently, as firms approach the need to make many new appointments to fulfill gender quotas for supervisory boards, given that the proportion of women on a corporate board must reach 40 percent by 2017, with an intermediate level of 20 percent by 2014. Design/methodology/approach – The authors gathered numerical and qualitative biographical data on all SBF 120 (French stock exchange index) firms’ female directors from annual reports and web sites over seven years (from 2003 to 2009). The authors constructed an SPSS database to categorize the individuals into various orders of legitimacy. Findings – Drawing on director bio-data, the authors extend previous work on four legitimacy assets (family ownership; academic excellence; strong ties to the State; and top career), by adding a fifth asset (representative director), and contribute a gender dimension to the literature on personal legitimacy. Owning-family ties and academic excellence are still particularly salient in explaining legitimacy of women directors. A new source of female directors since 2005 is the pool of foreign women, outside the elite Grandes Ecoles system. Research limitations/implications – The authors had data for directors of 115 companies out of the SBF 120 firms. The authors also lacked data for seven women out of 144 appointed during the period, despite efforts to track down data from public sources. Practical implications – These legitimacy profiles present different challenges for management development as those responsible for appointing several women to their boards in a short space of time will find out. Social implications – The authors highlight that with the diminishing role of family members on large corporate boards, more women directors need to be found, developed and mentored. If this approach is followed, new female directors with solid achievements can be appointed, without having their legitimacy as directors challenged by resistant males. Women will thus be able to take their legitimate place in French boardrooms and contribute their diverse experiences and knowledge. Originality/value – This paper questions the legitimacy assets of female directors, which can be clustered into three groups: combined elite education and top corporate career; owning-family membership; and representative directors. These legitimacy profiles present different challenges for management development as those responsible for appointing several women to their boards in a short space of time will find out.

Female board directorship and earnings management

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yosra Mnif ◽  
Imen Cherif
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Family Firms ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Corporate Boards ◽  
Women Directors ◽  
Homogeneous Sample ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Gender Diverse ◽  
Gender Quota ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This paper aims to examine the impact of female board directorship on the extent of earnings management. Design/methodology/approach The research hypotheses have been tested using both univariate and multivariate analyzes based on a sample of 198 firm-year observations from closely-held family firms listed on the SBF 120 over the period 2010–2018. Findings The empirical results first indicate that female board participation reduces the level of earnings management. When looking at women positions in the companies’ boardrooms, the authors reveal that the negative linkage between female board directorship and earnings management remains constant for independent female directors while the opposite holds for their family-affiliated counterparts. Further, the gender quota reform is shown to mitigate the adverse relationship between gender-diverse corporate boards and the extent of earnings management. These results seem sound, as they hold unchanged for the several measures of, both, boardroom gender diversity and earnings management used in the empirical study. In a supplementary analysis, the authors provide evidence that the association between the presence of women directors on the companies’ boards and earnings management depends, in a different way, on the size of the audit firm in a joint auditing context. Originality/value The country and the period considered in this paper are noteworthy characteristics that enhance the value of this research. The present study is relevant because it examines the relationship between female boardroom participation and earnings management using a homogeneous sample of family-owned and -managed companies within which shareholders and board members share identical motives for manipulating earnings in one of the leading countries in the world with regard to family ownership dominance (i.e. France). Moreover, this paper is considered to be very timely, as it explores, contrarily to previous related studies, the years following the implementation of a mandatory gender quota reform in one of the less available countries, to date, that have amended a gender quota law. To the knowledge, besides France, there are a few markets (Norway, Belgium, Finland and Iceland) that have implemented such legislation.

scholarly journals Gender-diverse boards get better performance on mergers and acquisitions

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (4, Special Issue) ◽  
pp. 222-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nivo Ravaonorohanta
Keyword(s):  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Corporate Boards ◽  
Representation Of Women ◽  
Female Directors ◽  
Gender Diverse ◽  
Women On Boards ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Board Gender Diversity ◽  
Executive Teams

In recent years, the composition of boards, particularly the appointment of female directors to the boardroom has attracted significant political and social debate. Despite several studies that have examined links between the representation of women on boards and the corporate performance, research on the board gender diversity in merger contexts is limited. We assess whether the presence of women on corporate boards affects merger and acquisition (M&A) performance. Using acquisition bids by public Canadian companies during 2012-2017, we find that an increasing number of female directors in acquiring companies is associated with an enhanced merger performance and a reduced bid premium. After controlling for gender diversity on executive teams, the value added by having women on boards is particularly noticeable when acquiring firms have few women in the executive teams, and where overconfidence is prevalent. Thus, there is a substitutive relation between gender diversity on the board and gender diversity on the executive team.

scholarly journals Women on corporate boards. The case of ’gender quotas’ in Italy

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 132-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrizia Pastore ◽  
Silvia Tommaso
Keyword(s):  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Gender Quotas ◽  
Corporate Boards ◽  
Female Representation ◽  
Upper Management ◽  
Gender Diverse ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Market Women ◽  
Substantial Progress

This paper investigates whether gender quotas have had success so far in their primary goal of reducing gender disparities in Italian corporate boards. Debate about gender equality on boards gained momentum and global prominence over the last years attracting attention of both researchers and practitioners worldwide. Despite a remarkable progress in education and their participation in the labor market, women still face large barriers to advance into upper management and boardrooms and gaps remain. Women are still under-represented in senior executive and board positions worldwide even if there is wide variation across countries. The present is a qualitative study that aims to contribute to the ongoing international debate about gender diversity on corporate boards (or lack thereof), providing current evidence from Italy, four years after the entry into force of Law 120/2011, establishing legislated quotas in order to ensure gender-balanced corporate boards. Using the samples of Italian listed companies and government-controlled companies tracked by Consob and Cerved respectively, findings show a substantial progress of female representation in Italian corporate boards (including governing and auditing boards) over the period 2008-2015 and reflect the extent to which women are shattering the glass ceiling, right before and after the implementation of the new (although controversial) gender quotas regulation. However, even though the number of women who sit on corporate boards has increased, it is necessary to ensure that the appointment of women is a board’s genuine intention to become gender diverse and more effectiveness rather than evidence of a result driven by tokenism, designed to enhance corporate reputation and image.

Do Female Directors on Corporate Boards Make a Difference in Family Owned Businesses?

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Sveva Magnanelli ◽  
Luigi Nasta ◽  
Elisa Raoli
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Family Firms ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Family Businesses ◽  
Corporate Boards ◽  
Listed Firms ◽  
Female Directors ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Gender Quota

ABSTRACT This paper investigates how the presence of female directors on corporate boards impacts the performance of family firms. This study enriches the literature on gender diversity on corporate boards and its effects on firm performance by focusing on a country in which family businesses are dominant. The empirical analysis is conducted on a sample of 165 Italian-listed firms from 2011 to 2016, representing the period during which the mandatory gender quota law was introduced and implemented in Italy. The results show a positive relationship between the presence of women on corporate boards and firm performance, specifically in family owned businesses. These findings lead to the conclusion that female directors do not have a negative impact on firm performance. And, given the domination of family businesses and a mandatory gender quota law in Italy, this study makes a regulatory and performance assessment not previously examined in the literature. JEL Classifications: M1; M12; M48; M21.

scholarly journals Women in Board of Directors and Real Earnings Management: Accretive Share Buyback in Malaysia

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 48
Author(s):  
Abdulsalam Saad Alquhaif ◽  
Rohaida Abdul Latif ◽  
Sitraselvi Chandren
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Board Of Directors ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Real Earnings Management ◽  
Independent Directors ◽  
Women Directors ◽  
Corporate Board ◽  
Corporate World

Gender diversity of boards and reporting of earnings are two most debated issues in the corporate world. In this context, the paper explores how the presence of women directors on the corporate board influence real earnings management through accretive buyback programs. Using a sample of 601 firms’ observations that engage in accretive share buyback from 2010-2015, the findings reveal that existence of women directors on the board is associated with less engagement in accretive share buyback activities. We further find that firms with a higher number of independent directors are less likely to practice real earnings management through accretive buyback programs. Our paper contributes to the debate on gender diversity on boards and its influence on the utilisation of accretive buyback programs as a tool to real earnings management.

scholarly journals Critical mass theory and women directors’ contribution to board strategic tasks

2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 42-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariateresa Torchia ◽  
Andrea Calabrò ◽  
Morten Huse ◽  
Marina Brogi
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Test ◽  
Critical Mass ◽  
Corporate Boards ◽  
Women Directors ◽  
Corporate Board ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Public ◽  
Women On Corporate Boards ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Legislative Measures

In this article we offer an empirical test of the critical mass arguments in the discussion of women on corporate boards. The literature in the women on corporate board debate concludes that there must be at least three women on a board before the women really make a difference. These arguments are frequently used in the public debate about the understanding the impact of women on corporate boards, but they have never really been empirically tested on a large sample. In this paper we use a sample of 317 Norwegian firms. Our dependent variable is board strategic involvement. The findings support the critical mass arguments. This study offers useful insights to policy-makers interested in defining legislative measures mandating the presence of women directors in corporate boards by showing that “at least three women” may be particularly beneficial in terms of contribution to board strategic tasks.

scholarly journals Multiple Layers of Gender Diversity on Corporate Boards: To Force or Not to Force?

2014 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Du Plessis ◽  
James O'Sullivan ◽  
Ruth Rentschler
Keyword(s):  
Best Practice ◽  
Critical Mass ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Business Case ◽  
Corporate Boards ◽  
Corporate Board ◽  
Board Diversity ◽  
Historical Perspectives ◽  
Board Gender Diversity ◽  
The Right

This article examines diversity on corporate boards, focussing on gender diversity and taking both contemporary and historical perspectives. Australia forms a particular focus of this article, but, as far as mandatory quota legislation is concerned, other jurisdictions provide comparisons. The authors illustrate how Australian corporate board gender diversity is starting from a low base in contrast to some other types of boards. Arguments for and against more women on boards are analysed in order to provide a comprehensive examination of extant research. The article also examines briefly whether a business case can be made for board gender diversity within the wider framework of board diversity. The authors acknowledge that there are unanswered questions about the right gender balance on boards and whether, without mandatory quota legislation, a voluntary system can achieve best practice targets. They explore the notion of critical mass - the idea that, upon board representation reaching approximately 15 per cent, efforts to further redress the imbalance may lose momentum. Their conclusion is that, in the Australian jurisdiction, progress is being made belatedly towards increasing gender diversity on corporate boards. However, substantial challenges are envisaged if significant progress is not made imminently to increase the number of women serving on corporate boards.

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