Gender Diversity, Labour in the Boardroom and Gender Quotas

Arbeitspapier

This study investigates boards of (non-executive) directors and whether employee representation has a positive effect on gender diversity on boards. We exploit rich, newly assembled board–director matched panel data for Norway and Germany, which contain unique information on whether a director represents shareholders or employees during the period around 2008, when a Norwegian board gender quota came into effect. We present two novel results that challenge previous thinking about the effects of board gender quotas on women directors. First, we find a positive impact of employee representation before the gender quota reform on gender diversity. Second, although the Norwegian gender quota has increased the probability of a director being female, the effect through employee representation has relatively decreased after the implementation of the reform. We discuss potential mechanisms and implications for the design of co-determination laws and gender quotas.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 15691

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination ; Business Objectives of the Firm ; Firm Performance: Size, Diversification, and Scope ; Personnel Economics: Labor Management
• Subject: affirmative action ; employee representation ; shared governance ; co-determination ; women ; boards of directors ; firm size

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Kunze, Astrid ; Scharfenkamp, Katrin
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
• (where): Bonn
• (when): 2022

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/267428
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET