scholarly journals Affirmative action programs and network benefits in the number of board positions

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Burzynska ◽  
Gabriela Contreras
Keyword(s):  
Affirmative Action ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Gender Quotas ◽  
Women Directors ◽  
Corporate Board ◽  
Board Diversity ◽  
Public Firms ◽  
Corporate Networks ◽  
Playing Field ◽  
Management Positions

Whereas governments are increasingly considering affirmative action programs to increase corporate board diversity, the effect of such programs can be superficial as they do not address the underlying problem, which is women’s access to and inclusion in relevant corporate networks. To address this issue, we study the relationship among affirmative action programs (binding gender quotas and non-binding gender targets), director networks, and the number of board positions individual directors hold given their gender. We use personal, professional, and network characteristics of 25,127 unique directors from 2,435 public firms in 32 European countries over the period of 2000 through 2017. We find that in the absence of affirmative action programs, women directors benefit less from their networks than men directors suggesting the existence of a gender gap in network benefits. After the passage of binding gender quotas, this gender gap in network benefits narrows between women and men directors. Overall, this research suggests that binding gender quotas make director networks a more salient tool for hiring women and may help in leveling the playing field in the way these networks are used for achieving top management positions.

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.

Who supports gender quotas for company leadership? An empirical analysis of determinants of support and rejection among German citizens

Soziale Welt ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-143
Author(s):  
Katja Möhring ◽  
Céline Teney ◽  
Christopher Buss
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Single Women ◽  
Political Orientation ◽  
Target Group ◽  
Gender Quotas ◽  
Upper Management ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Management Positions

After a long and controversial debate, a statutory gender boardroom quota was introduced in Germany in 2016. We examine the determinants of support for this quota among citizens aiming to identify the social groups that approve the most and those that resent the most the quota law. The approaches of self-interest, political orientation, and exposure are used to understand variation in support from a theoretical perspective. Based on data from the German Internet Panel (GIP) surveyed in March 2017 (N=2544), individual-level and workplace-related determinants of support for the boardroom quota are analysed. Our results show a general gender gap in support for a quota with greater support among women, but reveal differences within the target group of women and within the non-target group of men. These differences demonstrate that the interplay of gender and position on the labour market is pivotal for attitudes towards affirmative action in favour of women. The quota is most supported by single women in upper management positions, while most opposed by married women and young men. This leads to the conclusion that opposition to the gender quota is greatest among those who are disregarded by the regulation or might see their prospective labour market chances to be threatened.

scholarly journals Corporate Board Diversity and Sustainability Reporting: A Study of Selected Listed Manufacturing Firms in Nigeria

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Obiageli Anazonwu ◽  
Francis Chinedu Egbunike ◽  
Ardi Gunardi
Keyword(s):  
Board Member ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Manufacturing Firms ◽  
Executive Directors ◽  
Women Directors ◽  
Manufacturing Companies ◽  
Corporate Board ◽  
Board Diversity ◽  
Multiple Directorships ◽  
Sustainability Disclosure

The objective of the study is to ascertain the influence of corporate board diversity on sustainability reporting on a sample of quoted manufacturing firms in Nigeria. The study adopts a panel research design. The population of the study comprised quoted manufacturing companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. This was restricted to companies classified under conglomerates, consumer goods, and, industrial goods sector. The study used secondary data, extracted from the annual reports of the studied manufacturing companies. Fixed effects panel regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses. The dependent variable sustainability reporting was measured using an Economic, Social, and Governance (ESG) index, the independent variables were board member nationality, proportion of women directors, proportion of non-executive directors, and multiple directorships. The results show no significant positive influence of board member nationality, while proportion of women directors, proportion of non-executive directors, and multiple directorships were significant. The study recommends among others, the adoption of NSE Sustainability Disclosure Guidelines for a unified integrated reporting framework for Nigerian firms, secondly, a heterogeneous board composition, which can leverage on the diverse set of skills of board members.

Overcoming Discrimination in Sport Management: A Systematic Approach to Affirmative Action

1989 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jed Friend ◽  
Arnold LeUnes
Keyword(s):  
Affirmative Action ◽  
Systematic Approach ◽  
Sport Management ◽  
Job Analysis ◽  
Professional Baseball ◽  
Hiring Decisions ◽  
Job Descriptions ◽  
Affirmative Action Policy ◽  
Managerial Performance ◽  
Management Positions

Recently the issue of fairness in the recruitment, selection, and placement aspects of personnel management for professional baseball teams has been questioned. The only seemingly correct solution to the lack of minorities in sport management positions has been oriented toward developing and implementing affirmative action programs. This paper discusses an approach to affirmative action that emphasizes (a) job analysis, (b) job descriptions, and (c) prediction of managerial performance. It therefore serves as a caveat for those organizations that feel an adequate affirmative action policy, as a single entity, is the proper remedy for correcting past discriminatory hiring decisions.

Moving On Up? Effects of Leadership Training and Intersectoral Mobility on Women’s Advancement in Danish Public Administration Management

2021 ◽  
pp. 0734371X2110548
Author(s):  
Müge Kökten Finkel ◽  
Caroline Howard Grøn ◽  
Melanie M. Hughes
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Leadership Training ◽  
Career Advancement ◽  
Gender Inequalities ◽  
Upper Management ◽  
The Public ◽  
Playing Field ◽  
Public Managers

Women’s underrepresentation in middle and upper management is a well-documented feature of the public sector that threatens performance and legitimacy. Yet, we know far less about the factors most likely to reduce these gender inequalities. In this article, we focus on two well-understood drivers of career advancement in public administration: leadership training and intersectoral mobility. In theory, training in leadership and experience across government levels and policy areas should help both women and men to climb management ranks. We use logistic regression to test this proposition using a representative sample of 1,819 Danish public managers. We find that leadership training disproportionately benefits women, and this helps to level the playing field. However, our analyses show that differences in intersectoral mobility do not explain the gender gap in public sector management.

scholarly journals Corporate Board Diversity and Financial Performance: The Nigerian Insurance Sector’s Perspective

Growth ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-25
Author(s):  
Gbarato, Ledum Moses
Keyword(s):  
Financial Performance ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Negative Influence ◽  
Least Square ◽  
Insurance Companies ◽  
Board Members ◽  
Board Composition ◽  
Corporate Board ◽  
Board Size ◽  
Board Diversity

The presence of appropriate gender diversity, board size and board composition does not only promote favourable organizational ambience but also offers meaningful upsurge in the financial position of an organization relatively. It is on this premise that prompted the essence to examine the relationship between corporate board diversity and financial performance of insurance companies in Nigeria for the period 2014 to 2018. Secondary data from Cornerstone Insurance Plc. and Lasaco Assurance Plc. were employed in the study. Using the Panel least Square regression technique, the results reveal that gender diversity, board size and board composition exert insignificant influence on profit before tax as the measure of financial performance. However, while gender diversity exerts negative influence, board size and board composition exert positive influences on profit before tax of insurance companies. The study concludes that employment of appropriate number of directors and also in suitable composition as board members have positive effect on the financial performance of insurance firms. Therefore, the study recommended among others, that: appropriate ratio of executive to independent non-executive directors should be maintained among board members for better decision-making at the interest of all stakeholders. Also, the ratio of gender diversity (female to male directors) should be increased as the role of women in resource management cannot be relegated to the background especially in financial performance of insurance companies.

scholarly journals The Anatomy Of EEOs Level Playing Field

2009 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 49-58
Author(s):  
Edward L. Powers
Keyword(s):  
Affirmative Action ◽  
Equal Employment Opportunity ◽  
Barack Obama ◽  
Employment Opportunity ◽  
Level Playing Field ◽  
Hillary Clinton ◽  
Playing Field ◽  
Equal Employment ◽  
The Future ◽  
Sarah Palin

The election of President Barack Obama, and the candidacies of Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin raise the issue of whether we continue to need equal employment opportunity and/or affirmative action. The concept of a level playing field is carefully developed, and provides a basis for a more thorough analysis of the future of equal employment opportunity and affirmative action.

scholarly journals Three Essays on Corporate Governance in China

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Zonghao Chen
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Ownership Structure ◽  
State Ownership ◽  
Independent Directors ◽  
Women Directors ◽  
Director Compensation ◽  
Public Firms ◽  
Listed Firms ◽  
Director Characteristics ◽  
Chinese Public

<p>This thesis consists of three empirical papers on corporate governance in Chinese listed firms. The first essay examines the influence of director characteristics and ownership structure on director compensation. Over the period 2005 through 2015, we find that director compensation in Chinese listed firms is influenced by both director characteristics and ownership structure. We measure director compensation by both the propensity to be paid and the level of compensation. For independent directors, we find that director busyness, tenure, and ownership concentration positively influence and state-ownership negatively influences director compensation. For non-independent directors, we find that tenure positively influences and that both state-ownership and related directors negatively influence director compensation. Lastly, our evidence suggests that women directors in China are not underpaid.  The second essay examines the influence of rookie independent directors on board functions and firm performance in Chinese public companies from 2008 to 2014. We find that rookie independent directors attend more board meetings than seasoned independent directors. Independent directors with higher board meeting attendance are more likely to remain in the firm in the following year (lower turnover rate). This influence of board attendance on re-appointment is stronger for rookie independent directors. Further, we find that boards with more rookie independent directors tunnel less to controlling shareholders, suggesting that rookie independent directors are efficient monitors. Lastly, we find that firms with more rookie independent directors are associated with higher accounting returns.  In the third essay, we investigate the influence of board networks on directors’ career outcomes in Chinese public firms from 2005 to 2014. We find that board connections increase compensation for independent directors. We find that board connections are positively associated with director turnover for non-related directors, but negatively associated with director turnover for related directors. Further, we find that board connections lead to additional future directorships. Overall, we find that board connections both directly lead to higher compensation and indirectly through labor mobility and additional board seats.</p>

Where Women Make a Difference: Gender Quotas and Firms’ Performance in Three European Countries

ILR Review ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 768-793 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simona Comi ◽  
Mara Grasseni ◽  
Federica Origo ◽  
Laura Pagani
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Gender Quotas ◽  
Policy Debate ◽  
Corporate Board ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Accounting Data ◽  
Positive Effect ◽  
Identification Strategy

The authors study the effect of corporate board gender quotas on firm performance in France, Italy, and Spain. The identification strategy exploits the exogenous variation in mandated gender quotas within country and over time and uses a counterfactual methodology. Using firm-level accounting data and a difference-in-difference estimator, the authors find that gender quotas had either a negative or an insignificant effect on firm performance in the countries considered with the exception of Italy, where they find a positive impact on productivity. The authors then focus on Italy. Using a novel data set containing detailed information on board members’ characteristics, they offer possible explanations for the positive effect of gender quotas. The results provide an important contribution to the policy debate about the optimal design of legislation on corporate gender quotas.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document