Women’s empowerment conditions, institutions and firm performance in the MENA region

Abstract

ABSTRACT Women in corporate leadership roles are gaining recognition in business strategy decision-making. However, the impact of women’s business leadership roles in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has only recently gained attention due to the considerable gender equality reforms. This study explores the extent to which gender-empowerment institutions affect the performance of firms operating in the different countries of the MENA region. Using firm-level panel data, the study deploys a country-level measure of the women’s empowerment conditions in eleven MENA countries and explores its impact on both the market-driven and accounting-driven measures of corporate performance. The results show that the institutional conditions promoting gender empowerment are a significant and positive predictor of corporate performance. The effect materialises directly and indirectly through board diversity. It is weaker with respect to the accounting-driven measures of performance and stronger with respect to the market-driven measures of performance. Institutions and culture mitigate the effect. Policymakers and private agents should coordinate their efforts to empower women’s position in the whole MENA region with tangible benefits on corporate performance.