What Explains Gender Diversity on Corporate Boards Within the Global Economy?

Abstract

Despite mounting societal demands for board gender diversity, some firms deviate below national and industry norms (i.e., under- conformity). What might explain this non-conforming behavior? Building on insights from the emerging corporate governance deviance theory coupled with the institutional logics perspective, we examine the impact of entrepreneurial orientation of the firm on this deviant behavior. Using panel data on a globally representative set of firms, we show that firms with higher entrepreneurial orientation are more likely to go below the national norms in terms of board gender diversity. Our results also reveal that having more slack resources weakens the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and under-conformity. This study describes and explains the underlying patterns associated with board gender diversity within a national governance environment by focusing on the entrepreneurial identity of the firm. Overall, we contribute to the comparative gender diversity literature and augment the knowledge of the institutional logics perspective for a global investigation of gender diversity on the board.