Gender Diversity on Corporate Boards: An Empirical Analysis in the EU Context
In Creating Corporate Sustainability. Gender as an Agent for Change, Beate Sjåfjell and Irene Lynch Fannon (eds), Cambridge University Press, 2018
University of Oslo Faculty of Law Research Paper No. 2018-11
Posted: 16 May 2018
Date Written: May 16, 2018
Abstract
This study aims to explore how multilevel factors impacts on the percentage of women on the board of directors. For that end, this work uses a panel dataset for listed firms of the EU countries during the period 2002 to 2013 and applies Generalized Least Square Random Effect estimator in order to address the potential unobserved heterogeneity. The results reveal that board size, firm size, effective programs of equal opportunity in the workforce, industry, country and time have become relevant factors to explain the variability of the percentage of women on the boards. In contrast, the corporate policy and actions for maintaining well-balanced boards do not facilitate additional women’s recruitment to board of directors. It seems that the firms may adopt a balanced board policy in a symbolic way, without a clear objective to achieve a more balanced gender representation on company boards.
Keywords: gender diversity, board of directors, institutional theory, diversity policy, equal opportunity workforce
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