Narrow Results

This study examines the effect of board gender diversity within Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) on their ability to acquire new borrowers, a key indicator of progress toward achieving the financial inclusion agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Utilizing an unbalanced panel dataset consisting of 1,450 unique MFIs operating in 106 countries over the period of 2010–2018, this study deployed various econometric models, including the Pooled Ordinary Least Squares (POLS), Random Effects Model (REM), and Fixed Effects Model (FEM). Rigorous measures, including endogeneity-corrected techniques, alternative proxies for board gender diversity such as the BLAU index and sub-sample analyses were applied to ensure the reliability and robustness of our results. The study’s findings indicated a positive association between board gender diversity and financial inclusion within MFIs. However, the statistical significance of these outcomes varied depending on the specific analytical techniques, sub-samples, and alternative proxies used during the research. Overall, this study offers implications for practitioners and policymakers, encouraging women’s participation in the boardrooms of MFIs to advance the financial inclusion agenda of the SDGs.

This paper examines the relationship between the presence of employee representatives and female directors at the board level and a firm’s environmental and corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance. Using an international sample of firms from 23 developed countries between 2001 and 2014, we provide evidence that the presence of labor representatives and a larger proportion of women as well as female labor representatives at the board level are positively related to CSR and environmental performance. Furthermore, we find no substitutional relationship between female board members and labor representation when we include an interaction term between the two. Our findings illustrate that the relevant legislation in some non-Anglo-Saxon countries is beneficial and could be introduced in Anglo-Saxon countries where employee representation rights are limited and female board members are still a minority.

Researches on entrepreneurship reach a conclusion that more and more companies are created by teams rather than by sole entrepreneurs (Klotz et al., 2014). According to the Cameroonian National Institute of Statistics (NIS, 2009), more than 66% of new ventures in Cameroon are Limited Liability Companies, representing the major jobs provider. However, in spite of their numerical and economical importance, creations in teams have not been subject to scientific interest despite their consistency. The purpose of this article is to analyse the effect of the entrepreneurial team diversity and conflicts among its members on the performance of new ventures. The results of our econometric analysis based on a sample of 184 new ventures show that gender, skills and experience diversity have a positive impact on the performance of these enterprises. The cognitive conflict positively moderates the effect of the team diversity, while the emotional conflict negatively affects this relationship. Ethnic or racial diversity has no significant impact on the performance of the new ventures.

Compared to gender diversity in top management teams (TMTs) and board of directions, gender diversity in research and development (R&D) organisations, and its relationship with firm’s innovation performance, has received little attention. The aim of this paper is to investigate this relationship. Using a longitudinal design with five samples from Sweden the paper explores how gender diversity in R&D units relates to innovation-related employee productivity (measured in monetary value). Both linear and non-linear relationships are tested. The results suggest gender diversity has a non-linear, U-shape, relationship with employee innovation-related productivity, supporting the value-in-diversity perspective.

Maintaining an optimal level of liquidity remains a crucial agenda for firms to minimise liquidity risks. Therefore, the study aims to identify the drivers of liquidity by utilizing firm-level data of 1,544 microfinance institutions (MFIs), covering a total of 112 developing countries and a period of 2010–2018. The data were then analysed using conventional econometric tools and techniques. Among others, the study found that board size, portfolio quality, donations and size of MFIs have a positive effect on the liquidity of MFIs, while gender diversity at the board level, operational self-sustainability, staff productivity, legal status and gross domestic product (GDP) growth revealed a negative effect. After conducting several robustness checks, including alternative proxies, sub-samples and endogeneity-corrected techniques, our findings remain mostly consistent. Policy implications are further discussed.

This chapter examines any possible impact of board gender diversity on the performance of Australian banks concerning profitability, valuation, and efficiency for the period of 2004–2019. Several book- and market-based measures, as well as risk-adjusted performance measures, are studied. Generally, a moderate level of diversity is associated with better performance. Similar to the risk-diversity nexus, the effect of increasing board gender diversity may be conditional on the current amount of diversity on the board. Too high or too low level of diversity could be detrimental to bank performance.

This chapter shows that women directors have a significant role in bringing attendance punctuality. We examine whether the appointment of at least one woman director on the boards of prescribed classes of companies enhances board-level attendance culture as an outcome. We proxy the collective attendance culture of the board to the board’s effectiveness akin to prior literature. Using a set of listed banks from 2010 to 2020, we empirically show that gender diversity on board positively influences attendance behavior and fosters an improved board-level attendance culture in Indian banks. The results are more striking for the private banks in India. Our study adds to the ongoing debate on the economic rationale of having regulations mandating gender quotas on board and corporate governance in banks, especially in the context of an emerging economy.

This study aims at identifying the determinants of gender diversity and nationality diversity in the boards of Vietnamese listed firms. The data are hand-collected from 257 companies listed on the Ho Chi Minh stock exchange (HOSE) and 214 companies listed on the Ha Noi stock exchange (HNX) in the period 2015–2017. The main analyzing methods include Pooled OLS, REM, FEM, and GMM. The research results show that gender diversity is determined by three factors, industry, family firm, and board size. Concerning the determinants of nationality diversity of the board, there is evidence that firm size, foreign ownership, state ownership, and proportion of foreign sales predict the nationality diversity. Based on these results, some administrative implications are proposed to improve the structure of the board, including expanding business scale, promoting exports, limiting the increase in the number of members on the board of directors, reducing state ownership, and increasing foreign ownership.

This empirical study examines sustainability leadership in n=194 U.S.-based global companies across fifteen industries. The focus is multidisciplinary, exploring the intersection of sustainability leadership, innovative corporate governance, and gender diversity, using metrics compiled from corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports, 10-K documents, company websites, and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). We explore company engagement in sustainability reporting through CSR reports and GRI participation, as well as key elements of sustainability governance and leadership: the presence of board-level committees with specific mandates for sustainability oversight, the proportion of women chairs of those committees, the number of chief sustainability officers present across firms, and whether men or women hold those positions. Results, implications, and recommendations are discussed.

Women are less likely to engage in entrepreneurial activity. This study examines the role of language in promoting this phenomenon. Using a sample of entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs of both genders, we examine how success in business is linguistically expressed. University entrepreneurship programs’ webpages are then assessed for gender-coding. Results suggest that gender is not the delineating factor in masculine and feminine approaches to entrepreneurship; instead a strong distinction exists between entrepreneurs, who have a more masculine viewpoint, and non-entrepreneurs, who have a balanced viewpoint. In addition, universities provide a more balanced gender approach in webpage text than in visuals.