Gender Quotas Research Articles

Правові засади застосування гендерних квот в Україні

The article examines the legal basis for the realization of women's political rights in Ukraine. An important condition and guarantee for the establishment of democracy in Ukraine is the equality of women and men in all spheres of life of society and the state. Among the various aspects of the modern perception of the state of women in society and the state, the aspect "woman and politics" occupies a special place. Having analyzed the peculiarities of the realization of women's political rights in Ukraine, it was noted that since 2010, gender quotas have been absent in the electoral legislation of Ukraine. However, gender quotas were introduced for the first time in 2015, but they were not mandatory. According to the new Election Code of Ukraine dated December 19, 2019, gender quotas became a mandatory norm at the nomination stage. It is advisable to change the stereotypes about the role of women in politics, therefore, more attention should be paid to the mass media, which would contribute to the expansion of women's political rights and eliminate prejudiced attitudes towards the role of women in politics. Maintaining the gender quota in the Electoral Legislation of Ukraine plays an important role in the political sphere for all members of society, however, it is necessary to improve the administrative and legal mechanisms for compliance with gender quotas.

Female directors and firms’ financial performance: an empirical application of Kanter’s theory in the Indian context

Purpose Given the relevance of female directors in the governance of any firm, this paper aims to examine their effect on firms’ financial performance by investigating their general impact and segregating the same into different subgroups based on Kanter’s theory. Design/methodology/approach To achieve the purpose, this study selects a sample of the top 100 listed Indian firms for the period of 2014–2018 and gathers the data pertaining to the variables under consideration from the respective firms’ annual report and corporate database Capitaline Plus. For undertaking the investigation, the authors have segregated the sample into three groups, i.e. firms with boards having less than 10% of female directors are called skewed boards; firms with boards having female directors that range from 10% to 20% are called as tilted board; and firms with boards having sizable representation of female directors of above 20%. To examine the performance impact of overall female directors and their different subgroups, the authors have used a generalized estimating equation model. For the robustness test, the authors have used the fixed-effect model. Findings The authors find a significant positive impact of the overall percentage of female directors on the financial performance of firms. Additionally, the results indicate that boards with a titled group of female directors and boards with a sizable representation of female directors significantly positively impact firms’ performance. However, the authors fail to extricate any significant performance impact of boards with a skewed group of female directors. Practical implications First, the study reveals that despite prevailing nepotism in India, female directors, owing to their core characteristics, can create a favorable perception of firms in the market. Second, it also works as an eye-opener for regulators by revealing the minimum threshold for female directors that a board should have to exploit the benefits of a gender quota rather than mere compliance with the requirements of the Companies Act, 2013. Third, it implies that more gender-diverse boards can improve a firm’s financial performance only if female directors range between the thresholds of 10% to 20%. Finally, the finding is significant for changing the business culture in India, where institutions are traditionally less supportive of women than in other emerging countries. Originality/value Departing from existing studies, which provide evidence on the performance impact of the overall percentage of female directors, the study unveils the differential impact of female directors on firms’ financial performance depending on their level of representation on the board. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study in the context of an emerging market to test Kanter’s theory.

Political Competition and the Effectiveness of Gender Quotas: Evidence from Portugal

Political Competition and the Effectiveness of Gender Quotas: Evidence from Portugal

Board Gender Quotas: Does One Size Fit All? A Qualitative Comparative Analysis

Board Gender Quotas: Does One Size Fit All? A Qualitative Comparative Analysis

Assessing the Probability of Affirmative Action Women’s Quota for Members of the Regional Representative Council (DPD)

Gender quota policies for women in parliament or politics worldwide have developed since the 1990s. Indonesia applies this policy to the House of Representatives (DPR) as a political representation with a 30 (thirty) percent quota. As a fellow national parliamentary institution that is part of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), it turns out that there is a policy vacuum for DPD institutions. The vacuum, in addition to illustrating discriminatory practices, can potentially result in a very minimal representation of women in the institution. This study aims to assess the probability of implementing a similar policy for DPD institutions or provide other recommendations that are more appropriate. This research used normative legal research that uses the statute approach, conceptual approach, and comparative approach. Our data is obtained from a literature study and will be analyzed qualitatively. The results of this study, based on the consideration of nomination inequality and patriarchal culture, comparison of other countries, DPD as part of the MPR, Indonesia's bicameral system, and the correlation of Regional Representation and Women's Issues in Indonesia; DPD has several important and relevant arguments for implementing affirmative gender quota policy. However, against these considerations, there are also arguments that are not important and irrelevant, have no significant impact, or are impossible to apply, which is a challenge to implement affirmative policies such as DPR. Therefore, the most appropriate recommendation for DPD is simply through more massive socialization of candidacy by the General Election Commission (KPU) so that the legal culture in the form of awareness of the existence of female DPD members will grow and concerns about the lack of female DPD members can be prevented.

The Impact of Electoral Gender Quotas on Women’s Political Participation in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract Although representing half of the world population, women remain largely excluded from political power and government structures. Various strategies have been introduced to increase women’s political representation, including electoral gender quotas. This paper explores the impact of electoral gender quotas on women’s quantitative participation in politics of Bosnia and Herzegovina, analysing quota impact in combination with other related factors, such as the quota design, implementation and broader political context. A diversity of techniques has been used to collect a combination of quantitative and qualitative data, including academic resources collection and analysis, desk research, statistical data analysis and online questionnaire. The paper argues that electoral gender quotas have generally had a positive impact on getting women elected in BiH, though their efficacy depends on their formulation and other aspects of electoral law. Still, quantitative representation of women is not sufficient to facilitate their agency in politics. Social attitudes also continue to affect the electoral success of women once they secure a spot on the candidate list. Therefore, quotas must be implemented within a broader democratic, accountable and gender-sensitive political context to deliver qualitative representation of women in politics. Finally, the paper offers concrete recommendations to promote women’s political participation in BiH.

‘The first, but not the last’: women’s descriptive and substantive representation in the 2021 Scottish Parliament election

The 2021 Scottish Parliament election delivered the most diverse range of MSPs in Holyrood’s history, including a record number of women. We situate the 2021 election within its wider context, evaluating dynamics of party feminisation over time. Drawing on original candidate data and analysis of party manifestos across the main Scottish parties, we assess parties’ substantive appeals to women voters; the integration of different groups of women as candidates, MSPs and leaders; and the adoption and implementation of gender quotas. We find evidence of descriptive and substantive party feminisation in Scotland over time—including increases in both the amount and diversity of party manifesto pledges directed at women voters; improvements in the number and diversity of women selected and elected; and the increasing diffusion of, and inter-party competition over, gender quota measures. Yet we also find that progress has been uneven across parties and that some groups of women continue to be descriptively and substantively under-represented in Scottish politics.

Is a critical mass of women always enough to improve firm performance? The importance of the institutional context

PurposeThis paper aims to present a comprehensive theoretical framework that seeks to explore the impact of cultural, legal and social factors within the external environment on the relationship between women on corporate boards and firm performance. By investigating these boundary conditions, the paper aims to shed light on how these pressures influence the aforementioned relationship.Design/methodology/approachTo build the sample of companies, the authors selected companies listed on the stock exchanges of countries that represent a diverse range of institutional contexts. These contexts encompass countries with individualistic cultures, collectivist cultures, environments with mandatory gender quotas, environments without gender quotas, contexts with substantial progress toward gender equality and contexts with limited progress in achieving gender equality. To test the hypotheses, the authors used linear regression analysis as a primary analytical approach. Furthermore, they used the propensity score matching technique to address potential issues of reverse causality and unobserved heterogeneity.FindingsThe findings indicate that the positive influence of a critical mass of women on corporate boards on firm performance is contingent upon the institutional context. Specifically, the authors observed that this relationship is strengthened in institutional contexts characterized by an individualistic culture, whereas it is not as pronounced in collectivist cultural contexts. Furthermore, this research provides compelling evidence that the presence of a critical mass of women on boards leads to enhanced firm performance in institutional settings where gender quotas are not binding, as opposed to settings where such quotas are enforced. Lastly, the results demonstrate that the presence of a critical mass of women on boards is associated with improved firm performance in institutional settings characterized by low progress in achieving gender equality. However, the authors did not observe the same effect in institutional contexts that have made significant strides toward gender equality.Originality/valueThis research offers a unique perspective by investigating the relationship between women’s presence on corporate boards and firm performance across different institutional contexts. In this investigation, the authors recognize that gender diversity on corporate boards is not a one-size-fits-all solution and that its effects can be shaped by the unique institutional contexts in which companies operate.

“Paradox of gender quotas”: an experiment

ABSTRACT The notion of “paradox of gender quotas” points to the possibility that under certain preferential voting systems quotas may be simultaneously favorable and unfavorable to women; while they facilitate women’s passing the candidate selection stage, the quota-induced increase in the number of women candidates makes the competition at the ballot more exacting to women. The extant literature on that notion has been based exclusively on observational analyses and is largely inconclusive. In this note, we distinguish two mechanisms through which the “paradox” may possibly operate: limits to the overall women’s vote share and vote splitting. We subsequently propose an experimental test of those. We conduct a randomized survey experiment that mocks a situation of voting under various scenarios. The results that we obtain largely corroborate the presence of the former, but not the latter, mechanism behind the “paradox of gender quotas”.

Voters’ Attitudes towards the Gender Quota System in Elections in Poland and the Possibility of Its Modification

The article concerns the support for the gender quota system in the elections in Poland. The research was conducted on a double sample of adults for a representative national research, by means of quota sampling method (n = 2119). The respondents who believed that there is insufficient representation of women in parliament outnumbered those with the opposite opinion. We have observed a reluctance among the respondents to introduce solutions aimed at strengthening women’s representation. The difference in views were determined by political preferences, gender, age, domicile, and education. Women and leftist supporters more frequently believed that there are too few women in parliament and supported quotas, as opposed to men and persons with right-wing views. The differences were observed in the youngest age category, where women more often opted for quotas than men.

Assessing Congressional Institutionalization and Political Elites’ Renewal in Latin America Through Legislative Amateurism

Legislative experience, one of the various indicators of both congressional institutionalization and political elites’ renewal, has been mostly measured by either turnover or reelection. However, in regions such as Latin America, with more volatile and less institutionalized party systems, where most careers are not stable and ambitions are not mostly static, turnover and reelection may not be accurate measures of legislative experience. This paper aims to fill this gap by assessing parliamentary experience in Latin America by means of a more accurate indicator: legislative amateurism. Using a novel dataset comprising eighteen national single or lower-chamber legislatures over almost three decades, we find that legislative amateurism is a consequence of party system institutionalization, electoral volatility, and newly implemented gender quotas. Overall, our findings suggest that weak political parties and certain electoral rules may become fertile ground for amateur legislatorś landing in Congress.

Lessons from a Late Adopter: Feminist Advocacy, Democratizing Reforms, and Gender Quotas in Chile

Many Latin American and other Global South countries adopted gender quotas during democratic transitions. What explains late-adopting cases like Chile? We analyze two instances: the 2015–2016 electoral reforms, which finally introduced a 40-percent gender quota, and the 2020–2023 constitutional process, which introduced gender parity. Using a qualitative analysis that draws on 39 elite interviews, we posit that efforts to redesign national political institutions in order to address democratic deficits create transition-like moments. In turn, these moments create windows of opportunity for quota advocates. We show how quota advocates in the parties, congress, and civil society leveraged growing voter discontent to pressure their resistant colleagues and ultimately secure gender quotas (and later gender parity) as part of larger reform efforts. Our analysis of the Chilean case elevates two factors explaining quota adoption: the long arc of democratization and women's role as protagonists in electoral reforms.

Promoting Women’s Political Participation in Tanzania: Assessing Voluntary Gender Quotas in CCM’s and CHADEMA’s Constitutions

In response to the low numbers of women in elected positions of power, Tanzania reserves special seats for women in parliament and local governance structures. Consequently, the special seats system remains one of the main pathways for women’s access to political seats. Despite political parties’ role in nominating women for special seats, concerns linger regarding their internal commitment to advancing women’s political participation. This article inspects the constitutions of Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM, the Revolutionary Party) and Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA, Party of Democracy and Development) to assess whether there are voluntary gender quotas for increasing women’s political participation in political parties’ leadership positions and elections. While the two parties’ constitutions include principles of gender equality and non-discrimination, they contain minimal and inconsistent measures for women to attain positions in the party leadership, its decision-making organs and candidate lists. Various constraints, including the competition caused by the First Past the Post electoral system, challenges associated with the implementation of the special seats system, loopholes in the legal framework, weaknesses of women’s political parties’ wings, lack of competition from other political parties, and gendered social norms account for CCM and CHADEMA’s reluctance to adopt voluntary gender quotas.

The Representation of Argumentative Discourse in Doha Debates

The study aims to analyze the argumentative process contained in the YouTube Channel Doha Debate with the title “Gender Equality (Full Debate) Doha debates presenting three spokespersons by using five principles based on Damer’s theory. The method used in this study is qualitative descriptive. Data has been collected in the analysis by way of presenting, describing, and interpreting data. Research results show that there are twelve data in in this study, such as structural principle (twelve data), relevance (ten data), acceptability (one Data), sufficiency (six data), and rebuttal principle (four data). The researcher found that the structural principle is most dominantly used in the argument because there is a claim from the speaker’s argument to strengthen the speaker’s statement so that it can be accepted by the audience, relevance of reasons that are directly related to the claim, acceptability of the audience's opinion regarding the speakers’ argument, sufficiency provides evidence to strengthen the argument, and rebuttal principle which is the speaker's criticism of the argument presented by the opponent. Therefore, this concluded that the most consistent during the debate was Randa saying that quotas can help gender equality while Christina said that quotas cannot work and only harm because there is no evidence that gender quotas can help equality.

International Rewards for Gender Equality Reforms in Autocracies

How do international audiences perceive, and respond to, gender equality reforms in autocracies? For autocrats, the post-Cold War rewards associated with democracy create incentives to make reforms that will be viewed as democratic but not threaten their political survival. We theorize women’s rights as one such policy area, contrasting it with more politically costly reforms to increase electoral competition. A conjoint survey experiment with development and democracy promotion professionals demonstrates how autocracies enhance their reputations and prospects for foreign aid using this strategy. While increasing electoral competition significantly improves perceived democracy and support for aid, increasing women’s economic rights is also highly effective. Gender quotas exhibit a significant (though smaller) effect on perceived democracy. A follow-up survey of the public and elite interviews replicate and contextualize the findings. Relevant international elites espouse a broad, egalitarian conception of democracy, and autocrats accordingly enjoy considerable leeway in how to burnish their reputations.

Supply and demand for gender diversity in corporate leadership – the critical mass: evidence from Greece

PurposeThis study aims to examine whether a change in the regulatory requirement toward gender quota for corporate leadership significantly affects the demand and therefore, it increases the presence of women directors and women CEOs. Examining the supply-side, the study also examines whether the supply for women directors and women CEOs based on the presence of qualified women who currently hold upper, middle, or lower management positions is positively related with the presence of women directors and women CEOs. Furthermore, based on the critical mass hypothesis, this study examines whether the presence of women CEOs and critical mass for women directors bring significant impacts on firms' financial and environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) performance during the subsequent period.Design/methodology/approachUsing the multivariate regression analysis, this study empirically examines the impact of the shift in the demand for women directors and CEOs from the enactment of the Greek Law 4403/2016 on gender quota for corporate leadership. This study also examines the impact of the supply for women in corporate leadership, measured by the percentage of women who hold upper, middle, or lower management positions, on the presence of women directors and CEOs. Then, this study examines the impact of women directors and women CEOs on firms' subsequent financial and ESG performance.FindingsBased on a sample of 71 publicly listed Greek firms and 20 Cyprus listed firms as a control group during 2006–2019, the study finds evidence that both the supply-side and the demand-side bring positive effects on greater women participation in corporate boards. However, there is no evidence that the supply and demand affect the presence of women CEOs. The presence of women CEOs has a positive effect on ESG through environmental and social pillars. The study finds evidence to support the critical mass hypothesis that firms with three or more women boards tend to have higher financial and ESG performance.Social implicationsUnderstanding the supply and demand for gender diversity in corporate leadership in countries that are considered as lagging is critical to foster the global objective to level the playing field for women to participate in corporate management leadership as important part the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (UNSDG) 5.5. The positive impact of women directors on corporate financial and social performance can be achieved, especially when the critical mass is reached. This highlights the importance of greater gender representations in corporate boards and top executive level in order to make a meaningful social change.Originality/valueThis study demonstrates that the supply of women who currently hold corporate management positions has positive influence on the presence of women boards. This study also demonstrates that a national legislation that promotes gender diversity for corporate board has a positive impact on board gender diversity among Greek listed firms. This study also highlights the importance of integrating the critical mass perspective in considering the impact of supply and demand for women in corporate leadership on firms' financial and ESG performance.

Gender Quota for Corporate Directors: a Task for the European Union? The Revival of the Directive on Gender Balanced Company Boards

Gender Quota for Corporate Directors: a Task for the European Union? The Revival of the Directive on Gender Balanced Company Boards

Beyond the Quota: Unravelling Legislative Dynamics and Public Sentiment on Women's Reservation"

“Achieving the aim of equal involvement of men and women in decision-making will establish a balance that greater accurately describes the makeup of society, which is required to improve democratization and encourage its effective functioning. The goals of fairness, outcomes, and security cannot be attained without the active engagement of women and the adoption of women's viewpoints at all phases of decision-making." The Women's Reservations Bill is a critical piece of government legislation having the potential to alter the foundation of Indian democracy. It has always sparked intense arguments both inside and outside of Parliament. Its supporters argue that the Bill is vital for woman's active engagement with politics. Opponents believe that reserve would mainly benefit women from aristocratic groups, exacerbating the suffering of those with limited resources and underprivileged. The Women's Reservation law, also known as the Constitutional Amendments (108th Amendment) Bill, is an ongoing law in India that intends to reserve 33% of all seats in the Lok Sabha, India's Lower House of Parliament, and the state legislatures for women. This essay investigates gender inequalities in legislative decision-making in the context of the gender quotas. I utilize two empirical methodologies to randomize parliamentarians' gender and sentiments analysis to discover legislative issues in the French Assembly from 2001 to 2017. It might even go one step further and investigate the current state of support for policies on each issue, for example, by using analysing sentiment methods or embedding models to calculate the distance across a piece of text and the material of interest.

Women directors and E&S performance: Evidence from board gender quotas

Using the natural experiment created by France's 2011 board gender quota law, we find that the presence of women on boards increases firms' environmental and social (E&S) performance. After the quota law, firms are more likely to create an E&S committee, and women directors are increasingly serving as members of the main board committees and as chairs of E&S committees. We find that prior to being recruited to boards, women directors have more environmental and social experience than men. Combined with their increased authority after the introduction of quotas, their E&S skills allow them to steer companies toward more E&S-oriented policies.

Approval of gender equality in parliaments of the world and Ukraine

The article is devoted to the study of the issue of gender equality in the parliament of Ukraine and other countries of the world. Attention to such a problem is conditioned by the fact that Ukraine, as a legal state, has undertaken to develop state policy taking into account gender aspects. This is reflected in the implementation of the standards of international legislation, implementing them in national legislation, state programs for the implementation of gender equality, etc. The author draws attention to the fact that it is especially important to take into account gender aspects in parliamentary activity. Parliament as a legislative body has a significant influence on policy formation, strategic decision-making, and the level of efficiency in solving key issues. A gender-balanced composition of the parliament is a guarantee that decisions will reflect the different views and needs of women and men, resulting in more objective, rational and compromise decisions that take into account the political, economic, social and cultural composition of society. It was analyzed that the equal representation of women and men in the country’s parliament is an important indicator of the degree of solving gender problems in society. It is emphasized that the initiative to introduce gender equality in the parliament acts not only as a tool of political development, but also as a key element in the formation of new thinking and gender consciousness.
 By popularizing the concept of gender equality, the parliament acts as a catalyst for changes in the perception of the roles of women and men in society. By actively supporting and increasing the participation of women in politics and management, a new view and perception of women is being built in society and the expansion of her opportunities in all spheres of life, including science, economy, culture and primarily the social sphere.
 The article notes that the increase in women’s participation in the country’s political life is influenced by gender quotas provided for in the electoral law, the main purpose of which is to promote changes in the gender balance in society, and not just a temporary increase in the number of women in parliament.