Board Gender Quotas and Outward Foreign Direct Investment: Evidence from France

45 Pages Posted: 27 Dec 2021

See all articles by Koray Aktas

Koray Aktas

DEMS, University of Milano-Bicocca; Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca - Center for European Studies (CefES)

Valeria Gattai

Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca - Department of Economics, Management and Statistics (DEMS)

Piergiovanna Natale

Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca - Center for Interdisciplinary Studies in Economics, Psychology & Social Sciences (CISEPS); Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca - Department of Economics, Management and Statistics (DEMS)

Date Written: December 23, 2021

Abstract

We show that board gender quota laws reduce the propensity of French firms to undertake outward foreign direct investment. For this, we use Orbis data for the period 2007–2015 and a difference-in-difference approach. The exogenous increase in the share of women directors decreases the share of foreign subsidiaries by 7 percentage points when the share of women directors is at its highest. The share of foreign subsidiaries is affected by the decrease in the probability of having a foreign subsidiary, which indicates disinvestment. Accordingly, the estimated effects on the number and cost of employees are negative, with no impact on firm performance.

Keywords: Board diversity, Gender quota, Outward foreign direct investment (OFDI), Europe, Women directors.

JEL Classification: G30; F23; J16

Suggested Citation

Aktas, Koray and Gattai, Valeria and Natale, Piergiovanna, Board Gender Quotas and Outward Foreign Direct Investment: Evidence from France (December 23, 2021). University of Milan Bicocca Department of Economics, Management and Statistics Working Paper No. 485, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3992813

Koray Aktas

DEMS, University of Milano-Bicocca ( email )

Piazza dell’Ateneo Nuovo 1, 20126 Milano
Milano, 20126
Italy

HOME PAGE: http://https://korayaktas.weebly.com/

Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca - Center for European Studies (CefES) ( email )

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Viale Piero e Alberto Pirelli, 22
Milano, 20126
Italy

Valeria Gattai (Contact Author)

Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca - Department of Economics, Management and Statistics (DEMS) ( email )

Piazza dell'Ateneo Nuovo, 1
Milan, 20126
Italy

Piergiovanna Natale

Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca - Center for Interdisciplinary Studies in Economics, Psychology & Social Sciences (CISEPS) ( email )

Piazza dell'Ateneo Nuovo, 1
Milano, 20126
Italy

Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca - Department of Economics, Management and Statistics (DEMS) ( email )

Piazza dell'Ateneo Nuovo, 1
Milan, 20126
Italy

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