Abstract
The relationship between the presence of women on corporate board and firm performance has attracted a growing research interest in corporate governance literature. In this study we analyse this topic in Italy, a country that has recently introduced the gender quota law 120/2011. We investigate this topic using regression analysis on a sample of 705 Italian listed companies after the introduction of the gender quota law. Our findings highlight that the presence of women on corporate board does not influence firm performance. Many explanations and managerial implications may be deduced from these results, as shown in the paper.
Highlights
The composition of corporate boards is a topic of vital importance within corporate governance studies, especially in global market and in a situation of global financial crisis [1-5]
In this case the coefficient is positive but insignificant; our results show that the gender has insignificant impact on firm performance in Italian companies
The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical evidence on one of the more significant topic in the recent corporate governance literature, i.e., the impact of female representation on the board on firm performance
Summary
The composition of corporate boards is a topic of vital importance within corporate governance studies, especially in global market and in a situation of global financial crisis [1-5]. Corporate boards typically perform two roles [6,7]: a monitoring role (agency theory) and an advisory role to management (resource dependence theory). Corporate governance literature suggests that the board composition affects the way the board performs these roles. Board diversity (in terms of gender or ethnic background, education, proportion of foreigners) has gained considerable interest in corporate governance literature [8,9]. The main question is whether board diversity enhance board’s capacity and competencies, and, firm performance. Several arguments have been formulated to demonstrate the importance of diversity on corporate boards both in the light of agency theory and in the resource dependence framework
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