| By: |
Anaïs, Périlleux (UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES));
Ariane Szafarz (ULB, New York University, CEB and CERMI) |
| Abstract: |
This paper argues that role modeling can explain the impact of boardroom
gender diversity on corporate performance. It theorizes that female workers
are boosted by female leadership, gain increased motivation, and achieve
greater productivity, thereby making their female directors more effective. We
test this bottom-up approach to the trickle-down hypothesis on data
handcollected among local cooperatives providing microcredit in Senegal. All
the organizations surveyed are similar and small, which allows us to use a
homogenous performance metric. All of them outsource their human resource
management to the same third party, which mitigates the risk of endogeneity.
The data cover over 100,000 triads composed of: gender dominance on the board,
gender of CEO, and gender of credit officer. A better financial performance is
achieved when the triad is gender-uniform—be it male or female—confirming the
importance of role modeling and suggesting that the performance of female
board members depends on the gender composition of the workforce. |
| Keywords: |
Gender, Board, Trickle-Down Effect, CEO, Perfomance, Leadership |
| JEL: |
M14 J82 M54 J54 O15 |
| Date: |
2021–06–18 |
| URL: |
http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctl:louvir:2021012&r= |