Gender Diversity in Austrian Boards—Combing Soft and Hard Law Regulations

Abstract

The number of women on Austrian corporate boards remains low and increases only marginally. Whereas a general prescription to consider gender adequately exists for all incorporated companies, a gender quota was implemented in 2011 for corporations with major state ownership, which shows significant effect. Interestingly, even though Germany introduced a gender quota for (certain) publicly listed companies in 2015, Austrian politicians did not follow the path of the neighboring country and still refuse to have legally binding gender quotas for corporate boards. Within this chapter it will be shown, first, that the board nomination process is mainly driven by a relatively small number of people and parties and, second, that the majority of powerful actors are against quota regulations. An outlook, critical reflection of the case and a comment of a former federal minister close the chapter.