Women on Boards and Firm Financial Performance: A Meta-Analysis
Abstract
Despite a large literature examining the relationship between women on boards and firm financial performance, the evidence is mixed. To reconcile the conflicting results, we statistically combined the results from 140 studies and examined whether results vary by firms’ legal/regulatory and socio-cultural contexts. We found that female board representation is positively related to accounting returns and that this relationship is more positive in countries with stronger shareholder protections -- perhaps because shareholder protections motivate boards to use the different knowledge, experience, and values that each member brings to the board. Although the relationship between female board representation and market performance is near-zero, the relationship is positive in countries with greater gender parity (and negative in countries with low gender parity) -- perhaps because societal gender differences in human capital may influence investors’ evaluations of the future earning potential of firms that have more female directors. Lastly, we found that female board representation is positively related to boards’ two primary responsibilities, monitoring and strategy involvement. For both firm financial performance and board activities, we found mean effect sizes comparable to those found in meta-analyses of other aspects of board composition. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our findings.
... Gender equality is far more than a question of social justice; it plays an important role in improving a company's economic performance and can strengthen its competitiveness (EIGE, 2017). The inclusion of women in companies especially on the board of directors (BOD) is crucial for promoting diverse perspectives (Baker et al., 2020;Kolev & McNamara, 2020), for fostering innovation and flexibility (Miller & Del Carmen Triana 2009), and for improving financial performance (Post & Byron, 2015;del Carmen Valls Martínez & Rambaud, 2019). ...
... The findings are in line with agency theory, which emphasizes the crucial role of the BOD as an instrument to reconcile the interests of both shareholders and managers by serving as a monitoring and control mechanism (Jensen & Meckling, 1976). In the context of gender diversity, agency theory can be applied to explore whether female directors assist boards in overseeing the company's management (Kirsch, 2018), with authors arguing that gender diversity can improve monitoring (Kirsch, 2018), enhance decision-making processes, and reduce agency costs (Post & Byron, 2015). ...
... In this context, increasing evidence suggests that a diverse makeup can positively impact corporate performance, primarily because men and women bring different experiences, skills, and knowledge to the board. Diverse perspectives enhance company performance (Hedija & Němec, 2021;Post & Byron, 2015). This diversity is particularly relevant when addressing complex challenges, such as those encountered in ESG issues. ...
This study examines the relationship between gender balance on boards and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance. The results show that gender diversity has a positive impact on a company’s ESG performance, suggesting that a balanced representation of women and men on boards is beneficial for a company’s sustainable efforts. Furthermore, we provide evidence of the optimal level of diversity that maximizes ESG performance. ESG performance of companies reaches its maximum when the proportion of female directors on the board is approximately 60 percent. The results show that gender diversity on boards should be recognized not just as a milestone towards achieving gender equality but as a strategic asset that impacts companies’ outcomes. The study argues that fostering gender diversity in corporate boards is not merely an obligation to promote equality and fairness but is also a crucial tool in corporate governance to improve a company’s ESG performance. Furthermore, it provides valuable insights for academics, business leaders, and policymakers committed to fostering a sustainable and inclusive business world.
... Ownership structure, particularly the presence of dominant shareholders, can significantly influence corporate decisions and performance; however, empirical evidence on its impact remains mixed, with concerns about potential governance issues when dominant shareholders prioritize personal returns over broader shareholder interests (Cheffins, 2025). Board diversity, including gender representation, has been linked to improved corporate governance and financial performance; research indicates that gender-diverse boards can enhance firm value and reduce governance issues (Post & Byron, 2015). ...
... Dominant ownership structures can lead to either enhanced performance due to better monitoring or diminished performance due to the extraction of private benefits by controlling shareholders (Cheffins, 2025). Furthermore, increased gender diversity on boards has been associated with improved financial performance metrics, including ROA and ROE, highlighting the value of diverse perspectives in corporate governance (Post & Byron, 2015). ...
Purpose: The purpose of this article was to analyze influence of corporate governance on financial performance of listed firms in Germany. Methodology: This study adopted a desk methodology. A desk study research design is commonly known as secondary data collection. This is basically collecting data from existing resources preferably because of its low cost advantage as compared to a field research. Our current study looked into already published studies and reports as the data was easily accessed through online journals and libraries. Findings: Research on German listed firms shows mixed results regarding corporate governance’s impact on financial performance. While strong governance structures enhance firm performance, mere compliance with governance codes does not guarantee financial benefits. Capital structure also influences this relationship, suggesting that governance effectiveness depends on firm-specific factors and economic conditions. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Agency theory, stewardship theory & resource dependence theory may be used to anchor future studies on the influence of corporate governance on financial performance of listed firms in Germany. Listed firms should strengthen board independence by ensuring an optimal board composition with diverse skills, expertise, and gender representation to enhance strategic decision-making. Regulatory agencies should strengthen corporate governance compliance frameworks by enforcing stricter disclosure requirements and board accountability measures for listed firms.
... A number of studies have also demonstrated the advantages of sport organizations adopting a comprehensive perspective on democratic and participatory procedures that result in the creation of policies that take stakeholder interests into account (Kohe & Purdy, 2016;McKeag et al., 2022;Renfree & Kohe, 2019). For instance, by considering the representation of various groups in leadership roles, such as women (Nielsen & Huse, 2010;Post & Byron, 2015), general assemblies (Geeraert et al., 2014), or independent board members (Sport England, 2016). Regarding accountability and internal controls, a high level of implementation of measures associated with this principle would encourage democratic measures to monitor and control governance conduct, prevent the growth of power concentrations, and improve management effectiveness and learning capacity (Aucoin & Heintzman, 2000;Bovens, 2007). ...
This study compares the opinions of players within the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) and the Badminton Association of India (BAI) regarding governance dimensions to identify areas of strength and improvement. Utilizing a descriptive research design and statistical analyses, perceptions on various governance dimensions were collected from 350 respondents via standardized questionnaires. Significant differences were found in opinions across dimensions such as organization transparency, reporting transparency, democratic processes, control mechanisms, sports integrity, solidarity, and stakeholder representation. Stakeholder representation emerged as a critical dimension with notable disparities observed in both associations. The findings underscore the importance of tailored governance strategies to address specific concerns and enhance transparency, integrity, and stakeholder engagement within sporting organizations. The higher number of significant disparities observed in the BAI compared to the AFI suggests pronounced challenges in governance practices within the former, emphasizing the need for targeted interventions. Overall, the study provides valuable insights for guiding targeted governance reforms aimed at ensuring the sustainability and success of these sporting organizations.
... More female staff members can improve tracking, reduce agency expenses and improve business output. When supervision and counter checking is improved by adding female members, this will reduce agency cost and increase trust of shareholders (Post & Byron, 2015). ...
... Perempuan dan laki-laki menunjukkan perbedaan dalam nilai-nilai terkait keberlanjutan (Liao et al., 2015). Sebagai contoh, keberagaman jenis kelamin tidak hanya mendorong terbentuknya aliansi untuk energi terbarukan tetapi juga memperkenalkan ide dan perspektif baru ke dalam dewan (Post & Byron, 2015). Selain itu, keberadaan anggota dewan perempuan dapat meningkatkan peningkatan komunikasi di antara anggota dewan . ...
Adanya masalah lingkungan seperti polusi, pemanasan global, perubahan iklim, dan kelangkaan sumber daya memunculkan kesadaran masyarakat akan pentingnya keberlanjutan lingkungan. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis pengaruh CSR Committee terhadap Sustainable Development Goals pada perusahaan manufaktur yang terdaftar di Bursa Efek Indonesia selama periode 2018-2022 dengan mempertimbangkan adanya Gender Diversity dalam dewan direksi. Metode penelitian ini bersifat kuantitatif dengan menggunakan metode analisis regresi data panel. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa CSR Committee berpengaruh signifikan positif terhadap pengungkapan SDGs. Selain itu, Gender Diversity juga memoderasi secara signifikan positif, meningkatkan kualitas pengambilan keputusan dan efektivitas representasi pemangku kepentingan. Penemuan ini mendukung pentingnya Gender Diversity dalam tata kelola perusahaan untuk mencapai tujuan pembangunan berkelanjutan.
Companies' awareness of their responsibilities to contribute to sustainability has amplified. Business models, production, and consumption patterns are changing to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Entrepreneurs have incorporated social, ecological, and economic aspects into their business process. Thus, sustainable entrepreneurship links entrepreneurship and sustainable development. In addition, a family business as one of the important pillars of society, strives to address pressing issues of the modern world, including gender inequality, and promotes women's empowerment for inclusive society. Women can elevate themselves to become powerful, engage in decision-making and pave the way for the social and economic transformation. This chapter aims to explore women's empowerment opportunities through sustainable entrepreneurship and discusses the contribution of women in the family business. The chapter offers a comprehensive overview of theories, empirical studies, and recent research results concerning sustainable entrepreneurship, gender equality, and family business.
Purpose
This study aims to examine companies’ socially responsible behaviors by studying the relationship between different proxies of corporate environmental responsibility (CER) and earnings management (EM) with emphasis on companies’ pro-environmental behavior and business ethics domain.
Design/methodology/approach
This meta-analysis synthesized the results from 31 studies with 110,024 firm-year observations concerning the relationship between CER and EM. The study has used corporate environmental disclosure index, corporate environmental performance ratings (CEPR), corporate environmental performance indicator and environmental regulations as proxies for CER to investigate the meta-results. Furthermore, the research then used emission level (measured using per capita CO 2 in metric tons), human development index for economic development, number of environmental mandatory policies (measured using Carrots and Sticks Report 2023) and western vs eastern culture as moderator variables.
Findings
The findings of this study revealed a significant negative relationship between CER and EM. Among different combined proxies of CER, CEPR reveal a significant and negative relationship with EM. Furthermore, the study suggests that future studies can explore this understudied area using proxies of EM, i.e. real EM, earnings persistence, value relevance and accounting conservatism.
Practical implications
This study offers insights to managers for transparent auditing and supports CER as a long-term sustainability plan. The regulators need to develop a global framework for environmental responsibility that does not compromise the quality of nonfinancial disclosers.
Social implications
The findings of this study provide valuable insights for investors to make more informed decisions regarding green investments and suggest implications for policymakers to promote policies related to environmental sustainability and corporate transparency, thereby benefiting both investors and society. On a global scale, this study contributes to discussions concerning the alignment of corporate behavior with long-term environmental and financial integrity.
Originality/value
The meta-analysis addresses the long-standing two-decade debate of 2003–2023 on whether companies use CER as a transparency tool or use it as a greenwash to conceal their unethical earnings practices. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first meta-analysis to provide a comprehensive view to measure CER using different proxies to examine corporate ethical earnings behavior.
Female representation on corporate boards has received increasing attention from managers, shareholders, legislators, and diversity proponents. Although academics have examined the shareholder value of female board representation (FBR), the evidence is mixed. Further, the evidence focuses on business-as-usual situations, ignoring the value of FBR in impacting shareholders' reaction to firm-specific negative events. The authors augment academics' and practitioners' knowledge of the value of FBR by examining its impact on shareholders' reaction to a firm's product recall announcements. Their empirical analysis shows that, on average, FBR partially mitigates shareholders' punitive reaction to recalls. Next, building on research in corporate governance, the authors demonstrate that the shareholder value of FBR is contingent on other characteristics of the board of directors, such as board size and board independence. This research contributes to the literature on product recalls and extends multidisciplinary evidence on the value of female representation on corporate boards.
This research aims to understand the relation of female directors’ education qualifications with the financial performance of Indian corporations. Using an exploratory approach, the study is analyzed based on data from 452 firms in BSE 500 index between 2014 and 2023, while the financial performance of these firms is measured by Return on Assets (ROA) and Tobin’s Q. Our results indicate that there is a positive and significant association between the educational levels of women directors and corporate financial performance, which supports the proposition that the more educated directors are, the more qualified they would be taking decisions and apply strategic insights. Finally, the research shows that women executives who are educated provide intellectual capital and help create an efficient, innovative board, strengthening board governance. Additionally, the study supports the potential of merit-based selection policies as a means to support board diversity and thwart tokenism. This brings hope for diversity as educational qualifications in an appointment should be taken earnestly in both gender and corporate governance discourse. In addition to financial outcomes, the research argues for the inclusion of leadership with diverse educational backgrounds that enhance the organization’s perspectives and inject requirements for enhanced governance mechanisms.
This study presents a meta-analysis of research on gender differences in perceptions of ethical decision making. Data from more than 20, 000 respondents in 66 samples show that women are more likely than men to perceive specific hypothetical business practices as unethical. As suggested by social role theory (A. H. Eagly, 1987), the gender difference observed in precareer (student) samples declines as the work experience of samples increases. Social role theory also accounts for greater gender differences in nonmonetary issues than in monetary issues. T. M. Jones’s (1991) issue-contingent model of moral intensity helps explain why gender differences vary across types of behavior. Contrary to expectations, differences are not influenced by the sex of the actor or the target of the behavior and do not depend on whether the behavior involves personal relationships or action vs. inaction.
A meta-Analytic review of 97 minority influence experiments evaluated the processes by which sources advocating deviant, minority opinions exert influence. Minority impact was most marked on measures of influence that were private from the source and indirectly related to the content of the appeal and less evident on direct private influence measures and on public measures. This attenuated impact of minorities on direct private and public measures suggests that in response to normative pressures, recipients avoided aligning themselves with a deviant source. Mediator analyses revealed that minorities preceived as especially consistent in the advocacy of their views were especially influential. The relation between normative and informational pressures in the minority influence paradigm was discussed.
Both the practitioner and academic communities have voiced strong opinions regarding the progress of women in reaching the executive suite and the corporate boardroom. Proponents on each side of the current debate offer evidence suggesting the accuracy of their respective positions. One view holds: "The fight is over. The battle is won. Women are now accepted as outside directors in the preponderance of corporate boardrooms" (Lear, 1994: 10). An alternative perspective, however, suggests there is much progress left. An illustration of the type of remaining barriers is provided by T. J. Rodgers, chief executive officer (CEO) of Cypress Semiconductor Corp. , who has commented that "a 'woman's view' on how to run our semiconductor company does not help us" (Rodgers, 1996: 14). Regardless of where one falls along the spectrum anchored at one end by the view that women have made substantial progress in reaching the upper echelons of corporations and anchored at the other end by the view that women have barely begun to penetrate the "inner sanctum" of corporations, the central issue is the extent to which women have succeeded in cracking the proverbial "glass ceiling. " The glass ceiling is a metaphorical barrier which prevents women from attaining the upper-most organizational positions (e. g. , Karr, 1991; Morrison, White, Van Velsor, and the Center for Creative Leadership, 1992; Powell & Butterfield, 1994; U. S. Department of Labor, 1991).
This study examines how the influence of directors who are demographic minorities on corporate boards is contingent on the prior experience of board members and the larger social structural context in which demographic differences are embedded. We assess the effects of minority status according to functional background, industry background, education, race, and gender for a large sample of corporate outside directors at Fortune/Forbes 500 companies. The results show that (1) the prior experience of minority directors in a minority role on other boards can enhance their ability to exert influence on the focal board, while the prior experience of minority directors in a majority role can reduce their influence; (2) the prior experience of majority directors in a minority role on other boards can enhance the influence of minority directors on the focal board, and (3) minority directors are more influential if they have direct or indirect social network ties to majority directors through common memberships on other boards. Results suggest that demographic minorities can avoid out-group biases that would otherwise minimize their influence when they have prior experience on other boards or social network ties to other directors that enable them to create the perception of similarity with the majority.
This analysis considers the impact of the top managers in an organization on the organization's outcomes, specifically strategic choices and performance levels. The focus is not on the chief executive alone, but rather on the entire top management team. Using a macro view, these organizational outcomes are perceived to be related to the values and cognitive bases of those high-power individuals in the organization. In developing the model, emphasis is on the background characteristics of the top managers as opposed to the psychological dimensions. A series of propositions that should be tested to support the upper echelons theory are presented. The topics of these propositions include age, functional track, other career experiences, education, socioeconomic roots, financial position, and group characteristics. The creation of this model is just the beginning of the work that is necessary to evaluate and understand the upper echelons theory. Further input is needed from areas such as the executive recruiting industry. Additionally, clinical and statistical studies are both necessary to fully develop this theory. (SRD)