The Double-Edged Nature of Board Gender Diversity: Diversity, Firm Performance, and the Power of Women Directors as Predictors of Strategic Change

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Carmen Triana ◽  
Toyah Miller ◽  
Tiffany Trzebiatowski
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Strategic Change ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Women Directors ◽  
Board Gender Diversity

Private firm performance: do women directors matter?

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahnoor Sattar ◽  
Pallab Kumar Biswas ◽  
Helen Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Performance Measures ◽  
Small Firm ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Private Firm ◽  
Private Firms ◽  
Women Directors ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Firm Profitability ◽  
Board Gender Diversity

Purpose This paper aims to examine the relationship between board gender diversity and private firm performance. Design/methodology/approach The authors test the association between board gender diversity and private firm performance by estimating pooled multivariate regressions using an unbalanced panel data set of 115,253 firm-year observations. Findings The authors find that younger, less busy and local women directors enhance private firm performance. Firms with 40% or more women directors report triple the economic benefits compared to boards with at least 20% women directors. Considering firm size, women directors significantly increase small firm profitability, and the effect is more pronounced for high-risk firms. Greater board gender diversity enhances small firm performance as the monitoring role of women directors benefits the firm even in the presence of busy men directors. Consistent with the agency theory framework, the authors find that women directors improve small firm profitability in the presence of agency costs. Research limitations/implications Due to the lack of availability of data about private firms, many factors are not directly observable. The analysis uses accounting-based performance measures that may be subject to managerial discretion. Nevertheless, the authors report highly significant results using cash-based performance measures that substantiate the overall findings. Practical implications The results of the present study point to the need for private firms to increase board gender diversity and consider women director busyness, age, nationality and firm size when making board director appointments. Originality/value This study adds to the scarce existent literature investigating private firms. The results contribute to the understanding of gender-diverse boards as well as the attributes of women directors that enhance private firm performance.

Women on board: evidence from a masculine industry

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Arena ◽  
Alessandro Cirillo ◽  
Donata Mussolino ◽  
Ingrid Pulcinelli ◽  
Sara Saggese ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Educational Level ◽  
Demographic Variable ◽  
Critical Mass ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Women Directors ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Board Gender Diversity ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – This paper aims to provide insights on the gender-performance relationship, this paper studies the impact of board gender diversity on firm performance, by taking into account the “critical mass” of women directors and their educational level. Design/methodology/approach – The hypotheses are tested on a unique dataset of 211 European Union publicly listed companies in 2012 belonging to the construction industry from 28 different countries through a set of ordinary least squares regressions. Findings – The evidence shows that the “critical mass” rather than the simple presence of women has an incremental benefit on firm performance. In addition, results show that the educational level of women directors negatively affects firm performance, as it might impact the dynamics within the boardroom. Research limitations/implications – The quantitative nature of the study does not allow drawing strong inferences on behavioral processes and dynamics in and around the boardroom. Nevertheless, this study will open new research insights on exploring the educational level on board. Practical implications – Regulators and policymakers that should be aware of the influence of women as a group on firm performance and that this role is differential across industries. Originality/value – The novelty of this paper is that it investigates the role of women in a high masculine gender-specific industry and explores a still poorly understood demographic variable (i.e. the educational level) of women directors.

Board gender diversity: performance and risk of Brazilian firms

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mauro Mastella ◽  
Daniel Vancin ◽  
Marcelo Perlin ◽  
Guilherme Kirch
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Boards Of Directors ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Firm Risk ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Female Presence ◽  
Board Gender Diversity ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This study aims to intend to check if female board representation affects performance and risk and to analyse the evolution of the demographic aspects of the presence of women on boards in Brazil. Design/methodology/approach The authors used a sample of 150 Brazilian publicly traded companies from 2010–2018, with different measures of firm performance, firm risk and women’s presence on the board. The study approach is based on a set of ordinary least squares, quantile and panel data regressions. Findings The presence of women on the board has a positive effect on all of our accounting and market performance measures. However, the result of the impact on risk is not conclusive. The study also found that the number of females on the board has a more significant effect at the lower levels of firm performance measured by return on equity, but at the higher levels when measured by Tobin’s Q. Regarding return on assets, the more significant effect happened on the extremes of the performance distribution. The study findings point that market investors place more value in female presence on the board than in director positions. Originality/value By estimating the impact of women’s presence on the boards of directors in firm performance and risk, this study aimed to verify this impact in different aspects of the company. In addition, the authors did so in a sample with many years, making it possible to evaluate the historical evolution of the feminine presence in the boards of administration as well as in the groups of directors, assisting Brazilian legislators with new evidence about the possible impacts of Draft Law 7179/2017.

scholarly journals Does the Board Gender Diversity Enhance Firm Performance?

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rita R. Pidani ◽  
◽  
Amir Mahmood ◽  
Frank W. Agbola ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Board Gender Diversity

The role of national culture in the impact of board gender diversity on firm performance: evidence from a multi-country study

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Navaz Naghavi ◽  
Saeed Pahlevan Sharif ◽  
Hafezali Bin Iqbal Hussain
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Firm Performance ◽  
Generalized Method Of Moments ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Governance Structure ◽  
Corporate Governance Structure ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Board Gender Diversity ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThis study seeks to add more insights to the debate on “whether”, “how”, and “under which condition” women representation on the board contributes to firm performance. More specifically, the current study aims to investigate if the effect of board gender diversity on firm performance is dependent on macro factors of national cultures.Design/methodology/approachThe authors used the generalized method of moments regression and a data set consists of 2,550 company year observations over 10 years.FindingsThe results indicated that cultural variables interact with board diversity to influence firm performance. Having women on the board in countries with high power distance, individualist, masculine and low-uncertainty avoidance culture influences the firm performance negatively.Originality/valueThe findings indicate that the effects of corporate governance structure on firm performance depends on culture-specific factors, providing support for the argument that institutional norms that are governed by cultural norms affect the effectiveness of corporate governance structure.

Do women on corporate boardrooms influence remuneration patterns and socially responsible practices? Malaysian evidence

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sitara Karim
Keyword(s):  
Generalized Method Of Moments ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Executive Directors ◽  
Women Directors ◽  
Socially Responsible ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Upper Echelons Theory ◽  
Board Gender Diversity ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeThe prime objective of this study is to investigate the moderating influence of executive and independent female directors on the relationship between remuneration packages (CEO and executive director) and socially responsible practices (marketplace, environment, community, workplace and money spent on CSR) of 483 Malaysian listed firms during 2006–2017.Design/methodology/approachThe dynamic estimator, namely, system generalized method of moments (GMM) given by Blundell and Bond (1998) has been employed on the dataset to control dynamic endogeneity, unobserved heterogeneity and simultaneity problems.FindingsFindings indicate that there is a significant relationship between remuneration patterns of CEOs and executive directors and socially responsible activities. In the same way, executive board gender diversity significantly, whereas independent board gender diversity insignificantly moderates the remuneration and CSR nexus.Practical implicationsThis study is particularly significant for regulatory bodies of Malaysia, e.g. Securities Commission Malaysia, Bursa Malaysia, policy makers, investors and managers. For academia, this study fetches support from agency theory, stakeholder theory and upper echelons theory and presents integrated theoretical approach to be considered for future research.Originality/valueThis paper is unique in providing empirical evidence on the moderating effect of both executive and independent women directors on the relationship between remuneration patterns of CEOs and executive directors and independent CSR activities for the first time. Moreover, this study has sourced several theoretical and practical implications. And, the study employs dynamic estimator for precise and concrete results.

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