European board structure and director expertise: The impact of quotas

Emilia Vähämaa, Claire Crutchley Lending

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

15 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between the presence of female board members and measures of board independence and director expertise in Europe. We examine public corporations in countries that introduce gender quotas as well as those in a sample of countries without quotas. As shown in earlier papers, the quotas increase the percentage of females on the board; we also find pending quotas are associated with greater female board representation. We find some evidence that female representation is associated with greater board independence in the Nordic countries, but a legislated but not yet enforced quota decreases this positive association. In Southern Europe female representation is positively related to board expertise but the pending gender quota decreases this relationship. The paper provides empirical evidence that the composition of the board varies based on the gender of directors, but not to a great extent. This paper also reveals that pending and required quotas affect board structure.
Original languageEnglish
Peer-reviewed scientific journalResearch in International Business and Finance
Volume39, Part A
Issue numberJanuary
Pages (from-to)486-501
Number of pages16
ISSN0275-5319
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 22.09.2016
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article - refereed

Keywords

  • 512 Business and Management
  • Corporate governance
  • Board composition
  • European economy

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