Purpose
This study aims to elucidate the relationship between women's participation on the board of directors and the company's financial performance in a sample of 45 Colombian companies listed on the Colombia Stock Exchange (CSE) (Bolsa de Valores de Colombia).
Design/methodology/approach
Using 50,214 financial records of 45 companies listed on the CSE during 2008–2016, the authors performed panel data regressions to explore the relationship between the measures of gender diversity on boards and the impact on corporate financial performance.
Findings
The authors show that the participation and presence of at least one woman on the board of directors are positively associated with firm financial performance as measured by return on equity (ROE), but not as measured by Tobin’s Q. This second indicator is positively associated with firm financial performance when there are at least three female directors on boards of 10 or more individuals.
Practical implications
The findings also provide evidence supporting the development of managerial and organizational mechanisms that strengthen female presence at the highest level of governance.
Originality/value
The study demonstrates that female presence on boards has a positive impact on firms’ financial performance, but the degree of diversity impacts differently ROE and Tobin’s Q. These findings are based on a study of an emerging economy in Latin America, and data on similar economies are scarce.
The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.
This study explores whether Colombian mutual funds deliver abnormal risk-adjusted returns and delves on their persistence. Through traditional and downside risk measures based on Modern Portfolio Theory and Lower Partial Moments, this article evaluates the performance of 146 mutual funds categorized by investment type and fund manager. This assessment suggests that mutual funds underperform the market and deliver real returns. Similarly, bond funds underperform equity funds, and investment trusts underperform brokerage firms as managers. Furthermore, bond funds and funds managed by investment trusts exhibit short-term performance persistence. These results suggest that investors may pursue passive investment strategies, and that they must analyze past performance to invest in the short-term.
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