Female Directors, Board Committees and Firm Performance

50 Pages Posted: 3 Dec 2016 Last revised: 18 Nov 2017

See all articles by Colin P. Green

Colin P. Green

Department of Economics

Swarnodeep HomRoy

University of Groningen

Date Written: October 12, 2017

Abstract

A number of studies have found little economic impact of board gender diversity on firm performance. We return to this issue in the context of large European firms. Our contribution is twofold. First, using information on the gender of CEOs children as a source of exogenous variation in female director appointments, we demonstrate robust positive association of female board representation on firm performance. Second, while previous work has considered female representation broadly, we focus on membership of board committees as a proxy for active involvement in corporate governance. We demonstrate economically meaningful positive effect on performance of female representation on board committees. Our evidence is supportive of the economic rationale for increased female representation on corporate boards.

Keywords: Gender, Diversity, Firm Performance, Board Committees

JEL Classification: G30, G34, J16

Suggested Citation

Green, Colin P. and HomRoy, Swarnodeep, Female Directors, Board Committees and Firm Performance (October 12, 2017). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2879462 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2879462

Colin P. Green

Department of Economics ( email )

Høgskoleringen
Trondheim NO-7491, 7491
Norway

Swarnodeep HomRoy (Contact Author)

University of Groningen ( email )

Nettlebosje 2
Department of Economics, Econometrics and Finance
Groningen, Groningen 9747 AE
Netherlands

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