Impact of Board Gender Diversity on Firm Value: International Evidence

Abstract:This paper focuses on the impact of board gender diversity on firm performance. Using a sample of 880 listed firms in 10 developed countries covering a nine year period, we find that gender diversity has a negative effect on firm market performance. The result is consistent when different robustness checks are employed. A negative correlation can be explained by the fact that the presence of women on boards increases monitoring function. When the investors’ rights are well protected by the legal system, this extra monitoring may be costly for firms. This finding suggests that a quota for the exact anticipation of female directors on boards should be carefully considered.