Board gender quotas: can women realistically boost firm performance?

Abstract

L’objectif de notre article est d’étudier l'impact des quotas de genre sur la performance des entreprises. Nous considérons pour cela les lois imposant un quota de genre dans certains pays européens comme une expérience quasi naturelle. Notre analyse statistique montre que les caractéristiques des membres du conseil d’administration changent de manière significative après la mise en place de telles mesures. Les résultats de notre analyse empirique mettent en évidence que les quotas de genre réduisent le coût des fonds propres à court terme des entreprises, mais diminuent leur Tobin’s Q à long terme, tout en ayant un impact neutre sur leur rentabilité à court terme et à plus long terme. Notre analyse soutient également l'argument selon lequel les responsables politiques peuvent recourir à un dispositif de quotas pour favoriser la parité au sein des conseils d'administration sans générer d'effets négatifs sur la performance à court terme des entreprises. Cependant, un impact négatif sur leur Tobin’s Q peut être attendu à long terme. Notre analyse suggère finalement que l’influence des femmes dans les conseils d’administration sur la performance des entreprises suscite des attentes irréalistes de meilleure performance de la part des responsables politiques.

On the same page? Differences between male and female board members on the benefits of a gender-balanced representation

“…Examining the impact of introducing gender quotas in Norway, Bertrand et al (2019) conclude that, in the short run, the reform had very little discernible impact on women in business beyond its direct effect on the newly appointed female board members. In a similar vein, other studies found a neutral impact on performance (Eckbo et al, 2018;Casteuble et al, 2019). Some studies have even found a negative reaction of the market to the law with declines in stock prices, performance and profits (Ahern and Dittmar, 2012;Matsa and Miller, 2013;Yang et al, 2019).…”

“…Our results inform policymakers that the introduction of gender quotas is not neutral, and members of boardrooms see value in such measures. However, Casteuble et al (2019) have warned against creating unrealistic expectations about this regulatory measure as it is unlikely on its own to be able to deliver the intended outcome: a truly gender-equal board with equal opportunities for both men and women to have equal voices in decision-making. Boardrooms are mirrors of society (van Dijk et al , 2020) and, if gender bias remains largely pervasive in society at large, the boardroom will also reflect that reality.…”

“…However, some research suggests (Gabaldon et al , 2016) that this assumption is illusory and that “women’s capabilities, experience, resources, and networks are assumed to be lower than they are” (Brieger et al , 2019, p. 497). Casteuble et al (2019) pinpoint the risk of female entrenchment if they feel secure in their positions, a factor which, in itself, is sufficient to raise concerns about the merits of the legislative measure.…”

“…Most studies have focused on the gender representation-performance relationship, exploring whether female representation on boards is beneficial (Post and Byron, 2015), detrimental (Ahern and Dittmar, 2012;Matsa and Miller, 2013;Yang et al, 2019) or neutral (Pletzer et al, 2015;Eckbo et al, 2018;Casteuble et al, 2019) for company performance and value creation. Similarly, from board independence to board expertise, studies have established a link between board members' characteristics and firm outcomes based on the gender composition of the boardroom (Huse, 2007;Bebchuk, 2009;Krause and Semadeni, 2014).…”