scholarly journals Does Gender Diversity in the Boardroom Improve Firm Performance? Evidence from Indonesia

2019 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Pananda Pasaribu ◽  
Masripah Masripah ◽  
Bonnie Mindosa

This study investigates board gender diversity in Indonesia’s listed firms and its effect on firm performance from 2011–2016. After addressing the endogeneity of diversity, the results in this paper show that the proportion of female in the boardroom marginally improve firm performance. Firms with two or more female in the boardroom have a stronger impact on firm performance than firms with one female in the boardroom, consistent with the critical mass effect. Finally, certain sectors will gain more benefits of appointing females in the boardroom. The results suggest that increasing gender diversity in the boardrooms can have beneficial effects on firm performance, but the benefits may be subject to the critical mass and firm industry.

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 290-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn Wiley ◽  
Mireia Monllor-Tormos

This study investigates the link between board gender diversity (BGD) and firm performance (FP). The analysis is conducted using Fortune 500 firms in the Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Finance (STEM&F) sectors covering a period of seven years, from 2007 to 2013. The theoretical framework combines several theories that give shape to the critical mass effect of BGD on FP. This shape shows that below the critical mass threshold, BGD may represent a disadvantage to the board as it may facilitate the formation of subgroups, dysfunctional conflicts, and distrust. However, at or above the critical mass threshold, BGD facilitates better monitoring of management, greater resource provisions, and divergent thinking. To ensure sound results, this study addresses endogeneity concerns regarding omitted variable bias, reverse causality, and dynamic endogeneity. These results support a significant U-shaped relationship between the number of female directors and FP in the STEM&F sectors. That is, BGD yields higher FP when there is a critical mass of women on the board. This finding remains robust when alternative proxies for BGD and FP are employed and is consistent with the predictions of our theoretical framework. Our analysis also reveals that the positive effect of BGD on FP increases when there is at least a critical mass of 30% of women on a corporate board. This finding suggests that boards that have reached a critical mass of 30% of women present a favorable environment to capitalize on innovative ideas arising from BGD.


2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alisher Tleubayev ◽  
Ihtiyor Bobojonov ◽  
Taras Gagalyuk ◽  
Thomas Glauben

This study provides pioneering empirical evidence on board gender diversity and firm performance relationship for the case of large-scale agri-food companies in Russia. While Russia plays an important role in the global food security, its domestic agri-food production is heavily dependent on large scale producers. Our findings suggest a strong positive link between the percentage of female directors in boardrooms and firm performance. Moreover, in line with critical mass theory, boards with three or more female directors have greater impact on firm performance compared to boards with two or less female directors. Further analysis shows that the presence of female directors in the company has a positive impact on firm performance, mainly due to their executive, rather than monitoring effects. The paper shed light on gender diversity of Russian corporate boardrooms and provides empirical recommendations for policy makers as well as corporate executives in Russia.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed W.A. Saleh ◽  
Mohammad A.A. Zaid ◽  
Rabee Shurafa ◽  
Zaharaddeen Salisu Maigoshi ◽  
Marwan Mansour ◽  
...  

Purpose This study aims to examine how the salient board gender diversity among board directors affects firm performance both directly and indirectly, through the role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in listed firms on the Palestine Stock Exchange over the period 2010–2017. Design/methodology/approach Based on panel data of 384 observations from all firms listed on the Palestine Security Exchange during the period from 2010 to 2017, this study uses panel data regression to examine the effect of the predictors on firm performance. In addition, to mitigate the endogeneity issue, the analysis was repeated by using one-step generalized method of moments. Findings The results show that board gender diversity has a positive and insignificant influence on firm performance. However, under the moderating effect of CSR, the finding turns from positive insignificant to positive significant. Originality/value The study is timely given that gender diversity plays pivotal roles in determining the performance in terms of monitoring and controlling and further willing to engage in social responsibility. The prior research in Palestine has never investigated the effect of board gender diversity. As such, Palestine has not established a legal quota of minimum female representation on boards, and because of it, the country has weak women’s representation among firms. It, therefore, becomes a necessity to examine the influence of board gender diversity on the financial performance of listed firms in Palestine. Besides, the mixed result in previous literature on the board gender diversity and firm performance indicates that there is an indirect effect that needs alternative explanations.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Qurat Ul Ain ◽  
Xianghui Yuan ◽  
Hafiz Mustansar Javaid ◽  
Muhammad Usman ◽  
Muhammad Haris

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to examine whether board gender diversity reduces the agency costs of firms in the context of Chinese listed firms.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses a large sample of 23,340 firm-year observations of Chinese listed companies during 2004–2017. The authors use ordinary least squares regressions as the primary methodology with a wide range of methods to control for endogeneity and to check robustness, including the fixed-effect method, instrumental variable approach, lagged gender diversity measures, propensity score matching, Blau index, Shannon index and industry-adjusted measures of agency costs.FindingsThe evidence reveals that the participation of female directors in corporate board reduces agency costs, which correlates with conflicts of interest. Moreover, gender-diverse boards are more effective in state-owned enterprises (SOEs), in which agency issues are more severe. Female directors also provide better monitoring roles in more-developed areas. Finally, corporate boards that have a critical mass of female directors have a greater tendency to reduce agency costs as compared to their token participation. Overall, all findings support the validity of agency theory.Practical implicationsThis study shows the economic benefit of female directors in the boardroom by reducing agency costs and by improving firms' governance structure. Regarding the government, which is gradually introducing board gender diversity policies, this study provides valuable pragmatic information for Chinese regulators on this issue.Originality/valueThis study extends the literature by providing evidence that gender diversity in boardroom matters for shareholders' wealth maximization. It provides novel evidence that a critical mass of female directors is more effective in reducing agency costs compared to a single female on the board, and that the effect of gender diversity varies in relation to ownership structure and region.


2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Arena ◽  
Alessandro Cirillo ◽  
Donata Mussolino ◽  
Ingrid Pulcinelli ◽  
Sara Saggese ◽  
...  

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.


SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 215824402199780
Author(s):  
Qurat Ul Ain ◽  
Xianghui Yuan ◽  
Hafiz Mustansar Javaid ◽  
Jinkai Zhao ◽  
Li Xiang

This study investigates the relationship between gender diversity on the board and dividend payouts in China using a large sample over the period 2003–2017. Our results provide robust and strong evidence showing that gender diversity on the board is positively associated with cash payments of dividends. The empirical outcomes confirm that gender diversity on the board facilitates corporate governance and subsequently promotes dividend payouts. We demonstrate that gender diversity on the board has the greatest effect when the board has critical mass participation (three or more female directors) compared with only their token participation. However, independent female directors increase dividend payouts, while female executive directors do not have a significant impact. Furthermore, we extend the literature on the relationship between dividend payments and government ownership by providing evidence that gender diversity has a higher impact on dividend payouts for state-owned enterprises than non-state-owned enterprises. After controlling the endogeneity problems, our findings are reliable and robust. JEL classifications: G30, G35


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mauro Mastella ◽  
Daniel Vancin ◽  
Marcelo Perlin ◽  
Guilherme Kirch

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.


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