Gender diversity in the governance of the Nigerian securities market

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to identify the key determinants of stock market performance in Nigeria. More specifically, it is an attempt to determine the effect of gender diversity in leadership roles on the performance of the stock market in Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses annual data from 1980 through 2011 to model the development and performance of the Nigerian stock market through a modified Calderon-Rossell approach. Specifically, the leadership role of women in the governance of the stock market is investigated. Robust regression approach is used to avoid complications associated with the violations of the assumptions underlying the application of ordinary least squares regression. Findings – The empirical analysis shows that level of income, real exchange rate, liquidity, banking sector development, institutional quality, macroeconomic stability and gender are important determinants of stock market performance in the Nigerian stock market. Further, the results indicate that at worst, gender diversity does not play into stock market performance in Nigeria, and at its best, the appointment of women in the management of the Nigerian Stock Exchange is associated with better performance. Originality/value – The paper contributes to the empirical literature on the role of gender diversity and financial performance. The contribution of this paper is the inclusion of gender as an institutional factor among the determinants of stock market performance in Nigeria.

Female in top management and firm performance nexus: Empirical evidence from Ghana

“…Again, female participation in top management promotes the growth performance of SMEs and there is significant inverted U-shaped relationship (Wu et al, 2017). Gender diversity is noted as an important determinant of stock market performance in the Nigerian stock market (Ayadi et al, 2015). They noted that the appointment of females in the management of the Nigerian stock exchange is associated with better performance.…”

Do gender diversity and CEO gender enhance firm’s value? Evidence from an emerging economy

“…Some of the Western economies require a mandatory quota of female on board, while others have provided soft recommendations. Increasing female participation is considered to enhance the corporate decisions and governance quality (Ayadi et al , 2015; Adams and Ferreira, 2009; Green and Homroy, 2018).…”

The impact of flexible corporate governance disclosures on value relevance. Empirical evidence from South Africa

“…There are mixed theoretical propositions on the impact of board diversity on firm performance: those who argue for more diversity in boardrooms and those who are in favour of corporate monoculture and boardroom uniformity. Some studies found positive links between increased board diversity and firm value (Ayadi et al, 2015;Julizaerma and Sori, 2012;Kim et al, 2013;Lü ckerath-Rovers, 2013;Nielsen and Nielsen, 2013;Taljaard et al, 2015;Zhang, 2012), and others found no relationship (Jhunjhunwala and Mishra, 2012;Mahadeo et al, 2012). Moreover, others indicated that increased levels of diversity could be detrimental to firm value (Akpan and Amran, 2014;Carter et al, 2010).…”