Women on the Board and Executive Duration – Evidence for European Listed Firms

42 Pages Posted: 20 Mar 2015

See all articles by Achim Buchwald

Achim Buchwald

Monopolies Commission; Heinrich Heine University Dusseldorf - Duesseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE)

Hanna Hottenrott

Technische Universität München (TUM)

Date Written: February 16, 2015

Abstract

The participation of women in top-level corporate boards (or rather the lack of it) is subject to intense public debate. Several countries are considering legally binding quotas to increase the share of women on boards. Indeed, research on board diversity suggests positive effects of gender diverse boards on corporate governance and even firm performance. The mechanism through which these benefits materialize remain however mostly speculative. We study boards of directors in a large sample of listed companies in 15 European countries over the period 2003-2011 and find that female representation on firms’ non-executive boards is associated with reduced turnover and an increase in tenure of executive board members. An increase in the performance-turnover sensitivity of executives suggests that this effect may be explained by better monitoring practices rather than by less effective control or a “taste for continuity”.

Keywords: Corporate Governance, Executive Turnover, Gender, TMT Diversity

JEL Classification: G34, J24, J63, L25, M00

Suggested Citation

Buchwald, Achim and Hottenrott, Hanna, Women on the Board and Executive Duration – Evidence for European Listed Firms (February 16, 2015). ZEW - Centre for European Economic Research Discussion Paper No. 15-016, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2580776 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2580776

Achim Buchwald

Monopolies Commission ( email )

Heilsbachstr. 16
Bonn, 53123
Germany

Heinrich Heine University Dusseldorf - Duesseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE)

Universitaetsstr. 1
Duesseldorf, NRW 40225
Germany

Hanna Hottenrott (Contact Author)

Technische Universität München (TUM) ( email )

Arcisstrasse 21
Munich, DE 80333
Germany

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