How international are executive boards of European MNCs? Nationality diversity in 15 European countries

Abstract

In this paper, we describe and explain differences in nationality diversity within executive boards of European Multinational Corporations. Both country- as well as company-characteristics are included. The data consist of 2229 individual executives in 363 companies spread over 15 EU countries. It is concluded that in 2005, the executive boards of these companies are only marginally diverse in terms of nationalities. However, differences between European countries are substantial. The analyses show that these differences result from unique differences in governance regimes within the individual countries, and to a lesser extend the result of company characteristics.