Board gender diversity: performance and risk of Brazilian firms

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to intend to check if female board representation affects performance and risk and to analyse the evolution of the demographic aspects of the presence of women on boards in Brazil. Design/methodology/approach The authors used a sample of 150 Brazilian publicly traded companies from 2010–2018, with different measures of firm performance, firm risk and women’s presence on the board. The study approach is based on a set of ordinary least squares, quantile and panel data regressions. Findings The presence of women on the board has a positive effect on all of our accounting and market performance measures. However, the result of the impact on risk is not conclusive. The study also found that the number of females on the board has a more significant effect at the lower levels of firm performance measured by return on equity, but at the higher levels when measured by Tobin’s Q. Regarding return on assets, the more significant effect happened on the extremes of the performance distribution. The study findings point that market investors place more value in female presence on the board than in director positions. Originality/value By estimating the impact of women’s presence on the boards of directors in firm performance and risk, this study aimed to verify this impact in different aspects of the company. In addition, the authors did so in a sample with many years, making it possible to evaluate the historical evolution of the feminine presence in the boards of administration as well as in the groups of directors, assisting Brazilian legislators with new evidence about the possible impacts of Draft Law 7179/2017.

Does board gender diversity affect firm performance? Empirical evidence from Standard & Poor’s 500 Information Technology Sector

“…The outcome reveals that the presence of women on the board enhances their performance, in line with Kang et al (2010), who noticed that investors generally react positively to the nomination of female directors. In line with Mastella et al (2021), the results endorse the perception that the presence of women boosts company performance by enhancing the managerial process, variety of opinions, skills, and innovations. The null Hypothesis 1 and Hypothesis 2 are rejected, but null Hypothesis 3 cannot be rejected.…”

Determinants of Iberian companies’ performance: corporate boards and the nonlinearity of gender diversity

“…The relationship between gender and corporate performance has been inconclusive in the literature, with evidence of non-linearity. Indeed, gender diversity has been found to increase corporate performance (e.g., Chong et al, 2018;García-Meca et al, 2015;Horak and Cui, 2017;Mastella et al, 2021;Reguera-Alvarado et al, 2017;Yap et al, 2017), decrease corporate performance (e.g., Adusei et al, 2017;Mínguez-Vera and Martin, 2011) or leave it unchanged (e.g., Carter et al, 2010;Coleman and Kariv, 2013;Rose, 2007). In fact, greater gender diversity can increase performance.…”

“…Chong et al (2018);Coleman and Kariv (2013);García-Meca et al (2015);Horak and Cui (2017);Mastella et al (2021);Reguera-Alvarado et al (2017);Rose (2007);Yap et al (2017) …”

Desigualdade de gênero no turismo

“…As estimativas do GenderBR baseiam-se nos dados do Censo Demográfico do IBGE e já foram utilizadas em outros estudos científicos (Fontenelle et al, 2020;Santana & Braga, 2020). Esse tipo de solução também tem sido adotada em pesquisas científicas fora do contexto brasileiro (Kirilenko & Stepchenkova, 2018;Mariani et al, 2020;Mastella et al, 2021).…”