Myth or Reality? Boardroom Diversity in German Blue Chip Companies

20 Pages Posted: 9 Oct 2012

See all articles by Enrico Prinz

Enrico Prinz

EM Strasbourg Business School

Date Written: February 13, 2012

Abstract

As the question of boardroom diversity gains increasing attention both in the media and the academic world, this paper offers a comprehensive analysis of the evolution of boardroom composition of German Dax 30 corporations over a period of 10 years (2001-2010). In contrast to public opinion, results show that supervisory boards of German blue chip companies are light-years away from being considered as diversified. Both the proportions of female and foreign board members remain on a very low level. Furthermore, some national particularities such as widespread multiple board appointments, supervisory boards which are chaired by erstwhile firm managers or similar socio-educational backgrounds of current chairmen seem to be rather the rule than the exception. Whereas an increasing activity of board subcommittees can be observed, supervisory boards themselves hardly change their activity over time with respect to team size or meeting frequencies.

Keywords: Board diversity, supervisory board composition, corporate governance

Suggested Citation

Prinz, Enrico, Myth or Reality? Boardroom Diversity in German Blue Chip Companies (February 13, 2012). 29th International Conference of the French Finance Association (AFFI) 2012, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2083640 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2083640

Enrico Prinz (Contact Author)

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