TY - JOUR

T1 - Realizing Gender Diversity on Corporate Boards

AU - Kang, Wei

AU - Ashton, John

AU - Orujov, Ayan

AU - Wang, Yang

PY - 2023/5

Y1 - 2023/5

N2 - This study examines the effectiveness of soft law through scrutinizing national policies for enhancing the proportion of women on corporate boards. While using soft laws, which have less precision and obligation dimensions than conventional laws, is widespread within financial regulation, the relative performance of soft laws is unexplored. To resolve this, we undertake a comparative examination of 14,012 firms from 99 nations, using a three-stage analysis to examine the effect of different policies, their format and influence of institutional factors on female board representation. We report that soft laws are effective for promoting gender equality on corporate boards and the effectiveness of policies is strongly influenced by the enforcement, implementation and compliance dimensions of policy, and institutional factors. Policies are most potent when enforced using a moderate level of sanctions, with a longer compliance period and a diversity target less distant from a firm’s precedent gender diversity level.

AB - This study examines the effectiveness of soft law through scrutinizing national policies for enhancing the proportion of women on corporate boards. While using soft laws, which have less precision and obligation dimensions than conventional laws, is widespread within financial regulation, the relative performance of soft laws is unexplored. To resolve this, we undertake a comparative examination of 14,012 firms from 99 nations, using a three-stage analysis to examine the effect of different policies, their format and influence of institutional factors on female board representation. We report that soft laws are effective for promoting gender equality on corporate boards and the effectiveness of policies is strongly influenced by the enforcement, implementation and compliance dimensions of policy, and institutional factors. Policies are most potent when enforced using a moderate level of sanctions, with a longer compliance period and a diversity target less distant from a firm’s precedent gender diversity level.

KW - Gender equality

KW - gender quotas

KW - policy

KW - regulatory principles

KW - soft law

U2 - 10.1080/13571516.2022.2133337

DO - 10.1080/13571516.2022.2133337

M3 - Article

VL - 30

SP - 1

EP - 29

JO - International Journal of the Economics of Business

JF - International Journal of the Economics of Business

SN - 1357-1516

IS - 1

ER -