Women on Boards

2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Dobson ◽  
Mahdi Rastad ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Rapid Change ◽  
Corporate Boards ◽  
Change Mechanism ◽  
Shareholder Proposals ◽  
Statistical Measures ◽  
The Us ◽  
Women On Boards ◽  
Board Gender Diversity ◽  
The Uk

In recent years, the US, UK, and Continental Europe have pursued board gender diversity through markedly different means. Several European countries have imposed mandatory quotas, whereas the UK and US are relying on the endogenous mechanisms of social pressure and shareholder proposals respectively. Despite their obvious allure as a means of bringing about rapid change, evidence is mounting that European board gender diversity quotas may yield various deleterious side effects; and quotas may not be as successful in their core aim of promoting gender diversity as initial broad statistical measures indicated. In this paper we critique the European quota regime, and consider US shareholder proposals as an alternative change mechanism for improving gender diversity in corporate boards. We note the lack of shareholder representative democracy in Europe and conclude with the policy recommendation that, rather than extending quotas, European governments should focus on empowering shareholders.

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 Board-Gender Diversity, Family Ownership, and Dividend Announcement: Evidence from Asian Emerging Economies

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 62
Author(s):  
Adeel Mustafa ◽  
Abubakr Saeed ◽  
Muhammad Awais ◽  
Shahab Aziz
Keyword(s):  
Emerging Economies ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Family Businesses ◽  
Corporate Boards ◽  
Business Organizations ◽  
Tobit Regression ◽  
International Firms ◽  
Women On Boards ◽  
Effective Decision Making ◽  
Board Gender Diversity

In eras of intense debates on the appointment of women on corporate boards, this research sheds light on the structure of board in Asian emerging economies by examining how women on board of family businesses separately and collectively affect the dividend announcement of business organizations. On the basis of the panel data of four Asian emerging economies—China, Malaysia, Pakistan, and India—for the period 2010–2018, the results from our Tobit regression showed the adverse (negative) and significant impact of women on boards and in family businesses upon dividend announcement. It is important that policymakers should not view firms with one eye. There should be a spillover on board gender diversity from international to domestic levels, and international firms should be set as an example for domestic firms for the inclusion of women on boards. It might be the best time for Asian emerging economies to take productive action for balancing the gender in boardroom settings, and to set a minimum mass of women on boards for better and more effective decision making.

scholarly journals Women on Boards and Firm Performance: A Microeconometric Search for a Connection

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 218
Author(s):  
Marek Gruszczyński
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Company Performance ◽  
Corporate Boards ◽  
Econometric Evidence ◽  
Women On Boards ◽  
Modern Business ◽  
Improved Performance ◽  
Female Presence

This paper discusses questions of the gender diversity of corporate boards vis-à-vis firm performance. Typically, researchers have asked if a female presence is associated with improved performance and more transparent governance. The paper’s first part reports on several econometric attempts in the quest to prove the existence of such an association. The primary outcome is that the results vary over geographical, cultural, and time settings. The study presented in the second part examines European firms’ annual reports from 2015. Binomial models, multiple regression, and quantile regression are applied resulting in the finding that female presence on a board is not significantly related to firm performance for this sample. Together with the picture that emerged from the paper’s first part, this result leads to the possibility that the search for an association between women on boards and company performance is not fundamental. Nevertheless, modern business societies worldwide may need to boost the female presence on managerial bodies. Current econometric evidence indicates that this is not harmful to corporate results.

scholarly journals Determinants of Companies’ Board Composition in Emerging Markets

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 17
Author(s):  
Leticia L. N. Bellato
Keyword(s):  
Emerging Market ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Independent Directors ◽  
Board Composition ◽  
Corporate Boards ◽  
Count Data Models ◽  
Private Control ◽  
Women On Boards ◽  
Board Representation

This paper examines the determinants of female board representation for a sample of Brazilian listed companies for the year of 2018. Using count data models, we find that greater firm size, performance and board size lead to higher woman representation on companies’ boards. Also, that private control is associated with a lower number of women on boards. Most studies related to board composition focus on independent directors and are conducted in a developed countries’ setting. This work contributes to the extant literature in understanding what drives woman representation on corporate boards in an emerging market context and also would help to support the definition and implementation of gender diversity policies by showing possible impacts.

scholarly journals Board gender diversity and environmental, social and governance performance of US banks: moderating role of environmental, social and corporate governance controversies

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Hassan Shakil ◽  
Mashiyat Tasnia ◽  
Md Imtiaz Mostafiz
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Resource Dependence ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Corporate Boards ◽  
Omitted Variables ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Dynamic Panel Regression ◽  
Board Gender Diversity

PurposeGender diversity in corporate boards is broadly studied in existing corporate governance literature. However, the role of board gender diversity on environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance of the banks is still unaccounted for. Drawing on resource dependence and legitimacy theory, this study addresses this pressing research issue. Moreover, investigation of ESG controversies as a moderator paves the existing corporate governance research to the new avenues.Design/methodology/approachData were sourced from Refinitiv database on 37 US banks from the period of 2013 to 2017. This study employs static and dynamic panel regression models that include random effects, fixed effects and dynamic generalised method of moments (GMMs) to test the hypotheses. Furthermore, system GMM is used to reduce the issue of endogeneity, measurement error, omitted variables bias and bank-specific heterogeneity.FindingsWe identify a significant positive relationship between board gender diversity and the ESG performance of US banks. However, the result propounds non-significant moderating effect of ESG controversies on the board gender diversity–ESG performance nexus.Originality/valueLiterature on board gender diversity and ESG separately and predominantly explains firm/bank's financial performance. This study is one of the pioneering attempts to explain the role of board gender diversity on ESG performance. Although incremental, however, this study also contributes to the literature on ESG in the US context.

Tax avoidance: do board gender diversity and sustainability performance make a difference?

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 1389-1408
Author(s):  
Anis Jarboui ◽  
Maali Kachouri Ben Saad ◽  
Rakia Riguen
Keyword(s):  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Tax Avoidance ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Structural Equations ◽  
Mediating Effect ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sustainability Performance ◽  
Academic Researchers ◽  
Board Gender Diversity ◽  
The Uk

Purpose This study aims to investigate whether board gender diversity and sustainability performance influence tax avoidance. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on a sample consisting of 300 UK firms over the 2005-2017 period. This study is motivated by structural equations and system models that specify both a direct and an indirect link between board gender diversity and tax avoidance. Findings The results show that the level of tax avoidance decrease when the level of women on the board increase. Therefore, we find that sustainability performance is generally associated with greater tax avoidance. In combination, the results suggest that board gender diversity and sustainability performance play a significant role in corporate tax avoidance. Practical implications The findings may be of interest to the academic researchers, investors and regulators. For academic researchers, it is interested in discovering board gender diversity, sustainability performance and tax avoidance. For investors, the results show that the existence of female directors on the board reduces the tax avoidance. For regulators, the results advise the worldwide policy makers to give the importance of female roles to improve the engagement firms in sustainability reporting. Originality/value This study extends the existing literature by examining the mediating effect of sustainability performance on the relationship between board gender and tax avoidance in the UK context.

A social capital view of women on boards and their impact on firm performance

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin Oldford ◽  
Saif Ullah ◽  
Ashrafee Tanvir Hossain
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Firm Performance ◽  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Corporate Boards ◽  
Board Diversity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Board Gender Diversity

PurposeThe objective of this paper is to leverage a two-sided view of social capital to develop a model of board gender diversity and firm performance using social capital data from Northeast Regional Center of Rural Development.Design/methodology/approachThe authors examine a large sample of 2,322 US publicly listed firms over the period 1996 to 2009. The final sample consists of 14,634 firm-year observations.FindingsThe authors find that when a firm's social network is not supportive of gender diversity, corporate boards have lower levels of female representation. The strength of a social network's social ties exacerbates the relationship between social capital and board gender diversity. The authors also report a negative relationship between female board membership and firm performance in social networks that are not pro-diversity. Robustness tests reveal that the authors’ social capital view of board diversity also applies to board ethnic diversity.Research limitations/implicationsThis study focuses primarily on blue chip firms due to data constraints. It will be interesting for future researchers to investigate a broader spectrum of firms from a broader perspective of diversity beyond the study’s gender and ethnicity findings. Furthermore, this study assesses the US context, and future research could investigate firm sociability in other national contexts.Practical implicationsThis study contributes new insights to the discourse on gender diversity on corporate boards which stand to inform both policy and practice. The results of the study can inform the position of an industry association on board gender diversity, with guidance on how messaging across networks can be more effective should it account for the hidden bias that the authors uncover in the current study. From a manager's perspective, this study can help those managers and boards trying to enhance board gender diversity by providing a more complete understanding of the factors that can limit progress.Originality/valueThis study contributes a social capital view of board gender diversity to the growing literature of corporate governance, board diversity and local environmental influences on corporate policies.

scholarly journals Can board gender diversity promote corporate social performance?

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 789-802 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khine Kyaw ◽  
Mojisola Olugbode ◽  
Barbara Petracci
Keyword(s):  
Emerging Markets ◽  
Corporate Social Performance ◽  
Social Performance ◽  
Critical Mass ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Corporate Boards ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Board Gender Diversity ◽  
Corporate Social

Purpose This paper examines if gender diversity on corporate boards promotes corporate social performance (CSP) across industries and across countries. Design/methodology/approach Fixed-effect panel models are estimated using Europe-wide data from 2002 through 2013. Instrumental variable estimation and propensity score matching are also used to control for potential endogeneity. Findings Board gender diversity (BGD) improves environmental and social performance and consequently the CSP. Although the positive effect of gender diversity is prevalent across industries, the effect is more pronounced for firms in emerging markets. Practical implications The findings suggest that gender law that fosters gender diversity can promote CSP in firms, and the benefit can be enjoyed with just an introduction of one female director to the board. Promotion of gender diversity in Europe is most beneficial in emerging markets. Originality/value The results provide new insights to the literature, as we find that a critical mass of female directors on boards is not required to promote CSP. The research also highlights that BGD enhances CSP irrespective of the industry, and the effect on CSP is more pronounced in emerging markets where regulations regarding CSR are not so clear-cut.

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.

scholarly journals Gender Diversity as the Antidote to ‘Groupthink’ on Corporate Boards

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 85
Author(s):  
Akshaya Kamalnath
Keyword(s):  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Board Members ◽  
Corporate Boards ◽  
Women Directors ◽  
Professional Background ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Board Gender Diversity ◽  
Board Decision Making ◽  
Significant Question

Gender diversity on corporate boards has become a point of emphasis, to the exclusion of all other forms of diversity. This paper analyses whether board gender diversity might help boards overcome groupthink (i.e. the failure of board members to consider alternatives to the dominant view when making decisions). This is a significant question because the board is reponsible for governance of the company and groupthink is often cited as a hurdle to effectively performing this role. Thus, the paper first examines the role of the board, board decision-making processes and the problem of groupthink, and subsequently, the potential of gender diversity to overcome groupthink. It concludes that gender diversity on corporate boards might help overcome groupthink so long as the women directors are also independent and bear ‘outsider’ status. However, other forms of diversity like race, education, tenure, professional background etcetera might offer the same benefits and thus should not be overlooked.

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