Gender Quotas Research Articles

‘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.

Representation from Below: How Women’s Grassroots Party Activism Promotes Equal Political Participation

Extensive research investigates the impact of descriptive representation on women’s political participation; yet, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. This article develops a novel theory of descriptive representation, arguing that women politicians mobilize women’s political participation by recruiting women as grassroots party activists. Evidence from a citizen survey and the natural experiment of gender quotas in India confirm that women politicians are more likely to recruit women party activists, and citizens report greater contact with them in reserved constituencies during elections. Furthermore, with women party activists at the helm, electoral campaigns are more likely to contact women, and activist contact is positively associated with political knowledge and participation. Evidence from representative surveys of politicians and party activists and fieldwork in campaigns, further support the theory. The findings highlight the pivotal role of women’s party activism in shaping women’s political behavior, especially in contexts with pervasive clientelism and persistent gender unequal norms.

Women's Descriptive Representation in Burundi: The Mixed Effects of Gender Quotas

Building on original data collected for the period between 2001 and 2020, this article contributes to the research on the effectiveness of gender quotas. It does so, first, by looking into the salience of ministerial portfolios allocated to women, and, secondly, by examining the spillover effect of the gender quotas in positions where they do not apply. We find that the implementation of gender quotas gradually resulted in women being assigned to high-salience ministerial portfolios. Also, gender quotas have produced mixed results in positions where they are not mandated. These findings can be explained mobilising a multi-perspectival argument that takes into account the history of gender quotas adoption in Burundi, the specific political context of their implementation, as well as an interpersonal resources perspective.

All ages and abilities cycling infrastructure, cycling activity, and perceived safety: Findings from a natural experiment study in three mid-sized Canadian cities

As many cities aim to increase cycling ridership, they turn to research for evidence on the effectiveness of building cycling infrastructure. Our study team of researchers and practitioners designed a natural experiment study to assess the impacts of cycling infrastructure on two outcomes: self-reported cycling activity and perceived safety. The intervention was a 33 kilometre ‘all ages and abilities’ (AAA) network in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. We included Kelowna, British Columbia and Halifax, Nova Scotia as control cites. In 2016, 2019, and 2021, we conducted population surveys on transportation behaviours with ∼1000 respondents per wave, per city, using age and gender quotas. We measured exposure as the distance from each respondent’s postal code to the nearest AAA infrastructure. We completed a triple-difference analysis to estimate the effect of living closer to AAA infrastructure (≤ 500 m) on cycling activity and perceived safety over time. Across study cities, cycling increased marginally during the study period, although there was no statistical difference in the change over time between respondents living closer and farther from AAA infrastructure. Perceived safety increased over time in Victoria, but for people living > 500 m from AAA infrastructure (Odds Ratio: 1.59, 95% Confidence Interval: 1.01 – 2.50). Sensitivity analysis revealed a greater magnitude increase in perceived safety for women (Odds Ratio 2.08, 95% Confidence Interval: 1.07 – 4.04). The study results were influenced by a delay in the implementation of the AAA network in Victoria, substantial infrastructure investment in the control cities, and the COVID-19 pandemic. These unanticipated events likely affected cycling activity and the ability to assess impacts of cycling infrastructure interventions in this natural experiment study.

Systemwandel und Systembrüche im Gesellschaftsrecht

Before identifying changes or disruptions of a system, we need to define the system. Stefan Grundmann’s research pioneered such systematic thinking in a European and international context. The rather abstract concept of “investor ownership”, common to corporations, includes attributions of ownership besides different or conflicting shareholder interests. “Shareholder primacy” is mostly a business judgment issue. Changes in corporate law increasingly introduce general social policy, e.g., gender quotas or CSR goals. Legislation is moving from disclosure to incentives to substantive regulation which sometimes disrupts the corporate legal system. The general board structures are not controversial but responsibilities are shifting towards compliance and risk management. Accountancy includes more management reports and disclosures beyond financial accounting. That also changes the role of audits and auditors. Group accounts gain in importance, sometimes beyond their reasonable function. A definite interference with systematic corporate thinking is an underdefined treatment of corporate groups as a homogenous entity. More careful calibration is needed here. Corporate law, commonalities in corporate law, investor ownership, corporate social responsibility, disclosure, regulation, compliance, accounting, corporate groups

Does Gender Based Representation Matters in Fostering Political Inclusion of Women in Local Governments? A Case of India

How does the legally established gender quota in local self-government bodies affect the level of representation of women in power? How does the representation of women in power increase effective political participation? Previous studies were devoted to studying the consequences of gender quotas in the authorities and management, but the issue of the model of gender political participation remained neglected. The introduction of gender quotas as a mechanism for ensuring equal rights and opportunities for women in politics and the decision-making process increases women’s political participation and political leadership. The success or failure of planning and decision-making largely depends on the level of political participation. The issues of this work correspond to Goal 5 of Sustainable Development, which provides equal opportunities for women’s leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life. The paper analyzes the representation of women in the authorities and management in different regions of the world. The study’s main goal is to determine the relationship between the representation of women in rural local self-government bodies and the consequences of this representation. The data sources were the results of local elections, reports of government ministries and agencies, United Nations reports on gender equality and the empowerment of women, as well as surveys of women representatives of political power in three Indian states (Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra ) — state election data analyzed over the past three decades. The results of this study show that the level of female representation increases annually, although this is not entirely related to political participation. Women’s electoral participation indicates that despite growing women’s participation in local elections, the expression remains unchanged within the established gender quota of 33 to 50 percent. Addressing the gender imbalance in the political environment of three states in India is a result of the introduction and enforcement of gender quotas in politics. The results of this study have practical value for local self-government bodies when developing state gender policy.

The board gender composition and cost of debt: Empirical evidence from Jordan

AbstractThe present research aims to examine the influences of board gender composition on debt costs and its significance to Jordanian creditors: mainly banks, using agency and resource dependence theories. A sample of 113 non‐financial Jordanian firms listed on the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) from 2010 to 2019 was utilised to explore the impact of board gender on the cost of debt financing through panel regression analysis. To tackle endogeneity concerns, we employ a two‐step system generalised method of moments estimator. The findings discovered that more female directors on firm boards generated economic benefits for non‐financial sectors, which achieved an average 0.75% cut‐off interest rate incurred by lenders compared to the counterparts with fewer female directors. Our findings are still robust to endogeneity concerns. The findings offered valuable insights for academics, shareholders, firms, and regulators. Shareholders are required to provide more pressure on firms to enhance gender equality. Firms should adjust board gender composition via the inclusion of more female directors while regulators should develop guidelines, such as a minimum female quota in promoting more females to the board. The finding generalisability is limited to developing markets with similar settings. This study bridged a vital gap in the governance literature on the nexus between board gender composition and debt costs in Jordanian contexts where no minimum gender quota exists.