Abstract
This paper gives an overview over the number of women serving on corporate
boards both in Iceland and abroad. Women hold only around 20% of boards
seats and similar number of women is in top managements. It will analyse the
development and find plausible explanations of the present situation and introduce recent research papers in this field and explore the impact of more
diversity and on firm performance. Are more gender diverse boards likely to
perform better then firms lacking the diversity? Will diversity and increased
number of women on boards have positive influence on the number of
women in top management positions in the same firms? The evidence in the
research papers is inconclusive of the effects of gender diversity on firm
performance, but better performing firms tend to have more women on the
board. We will see positive relation between corporate and board size and the
representation of women the boards but find the inverse relation in Iceland.
The requirements by law that a minimum fraction of the firm´s board
members to be of a certain gender will call for a dramatic improvement on
the current situation. Finally we explore the possibilities in the ways firms will
increase the number of women on boards to meet the mandating gender
diversity before the deadline set by the regulators.
boards both in Iceland and abroad. Women hold only around 20% of boards
seats and similar number of women is in top managements. It will analyse the
development and find plausible explanations of the present situation and introduce recent research papers in this field and explore the impact of more
diversity and on firm performance. Are more gender diverse boards likely to
perform better then firms lacking the diversity? Will diversity and increased
number of women on boards have positive influence on the number of
women in top management positions in the same firms? The evidence in the
research papers is inconclusive of the effects of gender diversity on firm
performance, but better performing firms tend to have more women on the
board. We will see positive relation between corporate and board size and the
representation of women the boards but find the inverse relation in Iceland.
The requirements by law that a minimum fraction of the firm´s board
members to be of a certain gender will call for a dramatic improvement on
the current situation. Finally we explore the possibilities in the ways firms will
increase the number of women on boards to meet the mandating gender
diversity before the deadline set by the regulators.
Original language | Icelandic |
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Pages (from-to) | 93-107 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | Stjórnmál og stjórnsýsla |
Volume | 8 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2012 |
Other keywords
- Board level
- Diversity
- Women
- Firm performance