Hostname: page-component-6bb9c88b65-kzqxb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-07-23T19:23:48.681Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Public Attention to Gender Equality and Board Gender Diversity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 April 2022

Mariassunta Giannetti Open the ORCID record for Mariassunta Giannetti [Opens in a new window]  and
Tracy Yue Wang
Mariassunta Giannetti*
Affiliation:
Stockholm School of Economics, CEPR, and ECGI
Tracy Yue Wang
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota Department of Finance wangx684@umn.edu
*
mariassunta.giannetti@hhs.se (corresponding author)
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

We document that heightened public attention to gender equality is associated with an increase in board gender diversity. Improvements in diversity are more pronounced in firms with a corporate culture that is already sympathetic to gender equality. When public attention to gender equality increases, firms reach out to a larger pool of women, such as women without industry experience or outside their network, but female director appointments do not appear to be dilutive of the board’s skills. Instead, we observe less reliance on connections for director appointments and a decrease in the propensity to appoint connected men.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis , Volume 58 , Issue 2 , March 2023 , pp. 485 - 511
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
Copyright
© THE AUTHOR(S), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Michael G. Foster School of Business, University of Washington

Footnotes

We thank an anonymous referee, Mara Faccio (the editor), Jonathan Karpoff, Karl Lins, Michelle Lowry, Ulrike Malmendier, Geoffrey Tate, Daniel Urban, Yuhai Xuan, and seminar participants at the American Finance Association, the European Finance Association, the Drexel LeBow Spring Seminar Series on Corporate Governance, Indiana University, Nova School of Business and Economics, the University of Minnesota, the University of Mannheim, the University of Kentucky, the University of Alabama, the University of Surrey, the University of Utah, and the University of Birmingham for comments. Giannetti gratefully acknowledges financial support from the Swedish House of Finance, the Nasdaq Nordic Foundation, the Jan Wallander and Tom Hedelius Foundation, and the Riksbankens Jubileumsfond.

References

Adams, R. B.; Akyol, A. C.; and Verwijmeren, P.. “Director Skill Sets.” Journal of Financial Economics, 130 (2018), 641–662.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ahern, K. R., and Dittmar, A. K.. “The Changing of the Boards: The Impact on Firm Valuation of Mandated Female Board Representation.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 127 (2012), 137–197.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alam, Z. S.; Chen, M. A.; Ciccotello, C. S.; and Ryan, H. E.. “Does the Location of Directors Matter? Information Acquisition and Board Decisions.” Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 49 (2014), 131–164.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beaman, L.; Chattopadhyay, R.; Duflo, E.; Pande, R.; and Topalova, P.. “Powerful Women: Does Exposure Reduce Bias?” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 124 (2009), 1497–1540.Google Scholar
Bertrand, M.; Black, S. E.; Lleras-Muney, A.; and Jensen, S.. “Breaking the Glass Ceiling? The Effect of Board Quotas on Female Labor Market Outcomes in Norway.” Review of Economic Studies, 86 (2019), 191–239.Google Scholar
Besley, T.; Folke, O.; Persson, T.; and Rickne, J.. “Gender Quotas and the Crisis of the Mediocre Man: Theory and Evidence from Sweden.” American Economic Review, 107 (2017), 2204–2242.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boone, A. L.; Field, L. C.; Karpoff, J. M.; and Raheja, C. G.. “The Determinants of Corporate Board Size and Composition: An Empirical Analysis.” Journal of Financial Economics, 85 (2007), 66–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cai, J.; Nguyen, T.; and Walkling, R.. “Director Appointments – It is Who You Know.” Working Paper, Drexel University (2019).Google Scholar
Charles, K. K.; Guryan, J.; and Pan, J.. “The Effects of Sexism on American Women: The Role of Norms vs. Discrimination.” NBER Working Paper No. 24904 (2018).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Choi, H., and Varian, H.. “Predicting the Present with Google Trends.” Economic Record, 88 (2012), 2–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Custodio, C.; Ferreira, M. A.; and Matos, P.. “Generalists Versus Specialists: Lifetime Work Experience and Chief Executive Officer Pay.” Journal of Financial Economics, 108 (2013), 471–492.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Da, Z.; Engelberg, J.; and Gao, P.. “In Search of Attention.” Journal of Finance, 66 (2011), 1461–1499.Google Scholar
Dass, N.; Kini, O.; Nanda, V.; Onal, B.; and Wang, J.. “Board Expertise: Do Directors from Related Industries Help Bridge the Information Gap?” Review of Financial Studies, 27 (2013), 1533–1592.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Denis, D. J.; Denis, D. K.; and Walker, M. D.. “CEO Assessment and the Structure of Newly Formed Boards.” Review of Financial Studies, 28 (2015), 3338–3366.Google Scholar
Denis, D. J.; Denis, D. K.; and Walker, M. D.. “The Selection of Directors to Corporate Boards.” Working Paper, University of Pittsburgh (2018).Google Scholar
Drake, M. S.; Roulstone, D. T.; and Thornock, J. R.. “The Determinants and Consequences of Information Acquisition via EDGAR.” Contemporary Accounting Research, 32 (2015), 1128–1161.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duchin, R.; Simutin, M.; and Sosyura, D.. “The Origins and Real Effects of the Gender Gap: Evidence from CEOs’ Formative Years.” Review of Financial Studies, 34 (2021), 700–762.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eckbo, B. E.; Nygaard, K.; and Thorburn, K. S.. “Valuation Effects of Norway’s Board Gender-Quota Law Revisited.” Management Science, 68 (2022), 4112–4134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Erel, I.; Stern, L. H.; Tan, C.; and Weisbach, M. S.. “Selecting Directors Using Machine Learning.” NBER Working Paper No. w24435 (2018).Google Scholar
Ewens, M., and Townsend, R. R.. “Are Early Stage Investors Biased Against Women?” Journal of Financial Economics, 135 (2020), 653–677.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferreira, D.; Ginglinger, E.; Laguna, M. A.; and Skalli, Y.. “Closing the Gap: Gender Quotas and Corporate Board Composition.” Finance Working Paper No. 520/2017, European Corporate Governance Institute (2017).Google Scholar
Field, C.; Souther, M.; and Yore, A. S.. “At the Table But Can’t Break Through the Glass Ceiling: Board Leadership Positions Elude Diverse Directors.” Journal of Financial Economics, 137 (2020), 787–814.Google Scholar
Fracassi, C., and Tate, G.. “External Networking and Internal Firm Governance.” Journal of Finance, 67 (2012), 153–194.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gertsberg, M.; Mollerstrom, J.; and Pagel, M.. “Gender Quotas and Support for Women in Board Elections.” NBER Working Paper No. w28463 (2021).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ginsberg, J.; Mohebbi, M. H.; Patel, R. S.; Brammer, L.; Smolinski, M. S.; and Brilliant, L.. “Detecting Influenza Epidemics Using Search Engine Query Data.” Nature, 457 (2009), 1012–1014.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gompers, P. A.; Mukharlyamov, V.; and Xuan, Y.. “The Cost of Friendship.” Journal of Financial Economics, 119 (2016), 626–644.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gormley, T. A.; Gupta, V. K.; Matsa, D. A.; Mortal, S. C.; and Yang, L.. “The Big Three and Board Gender Diversity: The Effectiveness of Shareholder Voice.” Finance Working Paper No. 714/2020, European Corporate Governance Institute (2020).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gorton, G. B., and Zentefis, A.. “Social Progress and Corporate Culture.” Working Paper No. 2019-01, Yale International Center for Finance (2019).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hensvik, L., and Nordström Skans, O.. “Social Networks, Employee Selection, and Labor Market Outcomes.” Journal of Labor Economics, 34 (2016), 825–867.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hwang, S.; Shivdasani, A.; and Simintzi, E.. “Mandating Women on Boards: Evidence from the United States.” Working Paper, University of North Carolina (2018).Google Scholar
Kang, S.; Kim, E. H.; Lu, Y.. “Does Independent Directors’ CEO Experience Matter?” Review of Finance, 22 (2018), 905–949.Google Scholar
Keck, T. M.. “Beyond Backlash: Assessing the Impact of Judicial Decisions on LGBT Rights.” Law and Society Review, 43 (2009), 151–186.Google Scholar
Kim, D., and Starks, L. T.. “Gender Diversity on Corporate Boards: Do Women Contribute Unique Skills?” American Economic Review, 106 (2016), 267–271.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knyazeva, A., Knyazeva, D., and Masulis, R. W.. “The Supply of Corporate Directors and Board Independence.” Review of Financial Studies, 26 (2013), 1561–1605.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leibbrandt, A.; Wang, L. C.; and Foo, C.. “Gender Quotas, Competitions, and Peer Review: Experimental Evidence on the Backlash Against Women.” Management Science, 64 (2018), 3501–3516.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, K.; Mai, F.; Shen, R.; and Yan, X.. “Measuring Corporate Culture Using Machine Learning.” Review of Financial Studies, 34 (2021), 3265–3315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marx, D. M., and Roman, J. S.. “Female Role Models: Protecting Women’s Math Test Performance.” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28 (2002), 1183–1193.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Matsa, D. A., and Miller, A. R.. “Chipping Away at the Glass Ceiling: Gender Spillovers in Corporate Leadership.” American Economic Review, 101 (2011), 635–639.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McPherson, M.; Smith-Lovin, L.; and Cook, J. M.. “Birds of a Feather: Homophily in Social Networks.” Annual Review of Sociology, 27 (2001), 415–444.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pan, Y.; Wang, T. Y.; Weisbach, M.. “CEO Investment Cycles.” Review of Financial Studies, 29 (2016), 2955–2999.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roodman, D.; Nielsen, M. Ø.; MacKinnon, J. G.; and Webb, M. D.. “Fast and Wild: Bootstrap Inference in Stata Using Boottest.” Stata Journal, 19 (2019), 4–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shivdasani, A., and Yermack, D.. “CEO Involvement in the Selection of New Board Members: An Empirical Analysis.” Journal of Finance, 54 (1999), 1829–1853.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
State Street Global Advisors. “SSGA’s Guidance on Enhancing Gender Diversity on Boards” (2017).Google Scholar
Stout, J. G.; Dasgupta, N.; Hunsinger, M.; and McManus, M. A.. “STEMing the Tide: Using Ingroup Experts to Inoculate Women’s Self-Concept in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).” Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 100 (2011), 255–270.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tate, G., and Yang, L.. “Female Leadership and Gender Equity: Evidence from Plant Closure.” Journal of Financial Economics, 117 (2015), 77–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar