The Second Glass Ceiling: Women’s Role in Supervisory Boards of German Firms

Bozhinov, Viktor; Koch, Christopher; Schänk, Thorsten

doi:10.1007/s41464-018-0063-1

Cited by 9 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…(3) of table 5. We do find a very small positive effect in the ratio of female to male multiple mandates, which seems to indicate that part of the increase in female representation benefits women who were already serving on boards instead of increasing the participation of new women (Bozhinov et al, 2018).…”

Section: Empirical Specificationcontrasting

confidence: 51%

“…Both a failed quota announcement and a temporary quota are different experiment setups than a permanent mandatory quota, which is the main focus of this paper. To the best of our knowledge, Bozhinov et al (2018) is the only paper empirically studying the German quota. They focus exclusively on the role of women on the boards of affected firms, finding that women are less likely to obtain membership on important board committees than before the quota introduction.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Gender Quotas in the Boardroom: New Evidence from Germany

2019

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We examine the introduction of a gender quota law in Germany, mandating a minimum 30% of the underrepresented gender on the supervisory boards of a particular type of firms. We exploit the fact that Germany has a two-tier corporate system consisting of the affected supervisory boards and unaffected management boards within the same firm. We find a positive effect on the female share on supervisory boards of affected firms, but no effect on presidency of the board or its size. We also study whether the increased female representation has had an effect on the financial performance of the firm and conclude that, unlike some previous studies in other countries, there has not been any negative effect on the profitability of the firm, neither at the time when the law was announced nor when it was passed.

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Section: Empirical Specificationcontrasting

confidence: 51%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender Quotas in the Boardroom: New Evidence from Germany

2019

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“…Similar to the work of the corporate board in one‐tier systems, the supervisory board's work in two‐tier systems is usually organized along its responsibilities, and for each specific task, a standing committee is established (Bacon & Brown, 1973; Bilimoria & Piderit, 1994; Bozhinov et al, 2019; Braiotta & Sommer, 1987; Kesner, 1988). The German legislation actively supports the establishment of committees in supervisory boards to ensure work effectiveness and to enforce a better utilization of the expertise of the single directors (see Stock Corporation Act §107).…”

Section: German Corporate Governance Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most supervisory boards typically establish a nominating committee. The nominating committee's responsibility is to identify potential candidates for vacant executive board positions and to propose these candidates to the supervisory board as a whole in order to appoint them to the management board (Bozhinov et al, 2019; Walther et al, 2017). Thus, in practice, the appointment of the executive board is typically prepared by a small circle of directors representing shareholders and employees and resolved by the supervisory board.…”

Section: German Corporate Governance Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender spillovers from supervisory boards to management boards

2021

Self Cite

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This study investigates gender spillovers from women on supervisory boards to women on management boards in a two‐tier system with employee codetermination. The supervisory board consists of a nominating committee mainly responsible for the appointment of directors in the management board. By combining similarity attraction theory with power theory, we predict that only female shareholder representatives who serve on the nominating committee drive the positive effect on the presence of women on management boards. The results of the correlated random effects models in a sample of 95 German codetermined and publicly listed companies (2009–2016) confirm the predicted relationship.

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“…This is especially pertinent under a two-board system typical of Continental countries, whereby non-executive and executive directors sit separately and non-executive directors’ role is delimited to monitoring and advice. Non-executive directors under this system also tend to be invisible to other workers in the organisation, thereby dampening the potential benefits of women in these positions in terms of their symbolic presence (Bozhinov et al , 2018). Consequently, ensuring that women are adequately represented at the most senior and executive levels, especially under a two-board structure, is important for ensuring that women leaders have adequate power and visibility to be ‘agents of change’.…”

Section: Limitations and Caveatsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bringing Women on Board: The Social Policy Implications of Gender Diversity in Top Jobs

Kowalewska

2019

J. Soc. Pol.

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This paper argues that analyses of the gendered character of welfare states should be broadened to include women’s share of board and executive roles, as well as the affirmative-action policies (e.g. gender boardroom quotas) that help to overcome the gender stereotypes (e.g. women are ‘nice’, men are ‘assertive’) and opaque selection procedures at the root of this. Such indicators may seem beyond the remit of social policy analysis, which is concerned foremost with the analysis of ‘social risk’. However, drawing on evidence from across multiple disciplines, this paper argues that achieving a ‘critical mass’ of women in board and executive positions can bring women’s issues onto companies’ agendas and lead to the adoption of female-friendly practices, policies, and cultures at the firm level. Crucially, these practices, policies, and cultures can help to reduce the incidence of gendered social risks (employment/care conflicts, economic dependence on a partner) and sexual harassment among women at lower levels of the labour market. Thus, the paper highlights another dimension to the social-regulatory function of welfare states which has to date been overlooked, namely legislative requirements on companies to achieve gender diversity in their leadership structures.

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The Second Glass Ceiling: Women’s Role in Supervisory Boards of German Firms

Cited by 9 publications

References 33 publications

Gender Quotas in the Boardroom: New Evidence from Germany

Gender Quotas in the Boardroom: New Evidence from Germany

Gender spillovers from supervisory boards to management boards

Bringing Women on Board: The Social Policy Implications of Gender Diversity in Top Jobs

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