This paper examines the relationship between firm performance, measured by Tobin’s Q, and board diversity. Board diversity is measured by age differentials, gender diversity, board size, number of board members with higher education, and number of nationali-ties included in the board. The data were collected from firms on the OMX Stockholm 30, for the years 2006-2010. Because data were collected from 5 years, a panel type re-gression is used. Furthermore the regression of this paper corrects for time specific ef-fects. This paper contributes to the field of research by investigating the Swedish market in a quantitative manner and using these specific five explanatory variables as a measure of board diversity. The result of this paper shows a clear overall relationship between board diversity and firm performance. More specifically, the education and nationality variables are not significant. The size variable is significant and negatively correlated to firm performance, while the gender and age variables show a significant and positive re-lationship to firm performance.

The purpose of this research is to investigate why there are so few women on South African company boards. Since the first democratic elections in South Africa, diversity has been in the focal point to correct the discrimination and inequalities of the past; however the gender diversity has not been very successful on company boards. Exploratory or qualitative research methodology was employed based on semistructured interviews with a non-probability sample of 13 respondents. All respondents were women who served on company board as directors. They were from various sectors of the economy and served in various capacities on the boards. This study found that the market and the shareholder profiles have diversified considerably, however the company boards have not changed significantly. The gender gap maybe narrowing on company boards however the levels of discrimination and inequalities are still very high. Gender stereotypes continue to inform many decisions in business, including those of board appointments. The study also found that for transformation to occur successfully, leadership had to play a major role. Government has implemented sound regulatory systems that encourage diversity and it is now up to the leadership in companies to take the responsibility and give women opportunities to participate in business through boards. Government, through policies and regulations, continue to play a crucial role in facilitating transformation however the pace of change remains sluggish. Leadership has a critical role to play because the purpose of the policies and regulations is not only to get companies to achieve compliance, but to create equal opportunities for all South Africans. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

This study extends previous research on the effects of executive board diversity by examining the relationship between age-, gender- and nationality diversity on firm performance in the Netherlands. Based on a sample of 79 Dutch listed firms studied over the period 2010-2015, this study reports a positive link between board diversity and firm performance. Firm performance is, hereby, estimated using a forward-looking market performance measure (Tobin’s Q) and a backward-looking accounting measure (ROA).

Directors' remuneration has long attracted a great deal of attention from financial economists and academics due to its strategic role as a remedy to control agency problems. The key issue is the conflict between directors and shareholders on whether the remuneration is designed to maximise shareholders' value or to favour directors, who run the company on behalf of the investors. However, the conflict can never be detected when the disclosure of remuneration is not transparent. The study was conducted in Malaysia which provides a distinctive research setting different from other developing countries because Malaysia has a disclosure exercise that is still far below best practice as well as a unique Malaysian cultural and institutional environment. Thus, the unusual combination of politics (government) dominated by Malays and business dominated by the minority Chinese provides an interesting background to explore the determinants and consequences of directors' remuneration disclosure. This study's novelty stands on the exploration of ownership structure and board diversity in determining directors' remuneration disclosure, as well as the impact of disclosure towards firm value. The first chapter investigates the association between ownership structure and directors' remuneration disclosure. A significant and negative association is noted between family ownership and remuneration disclosure, suggesting that the traditional family control in Malaysia continue to be dominating outweighing the necessity of public disclosure. Moreover, this study encountered a non-linear relationship between government ownership and remuneration disclosure, indicating that the disclosure of directors' remuneration is positive up to a certain level of government ownership but reduces as government ownership increases. Evidently, directors in government-owned companies are being extra vigilant in disclosing their remuneration due to the political and personal security reasons, particularly post the 12th general election of Malaysia in 2008 that witnessed the government lose its two-thirds majority in parliament for the first time after 40 years. The second chapter examines how board diversity influences disclosure. The study found that only age diversity is significantly and negatively associated with directors' remuneration disclosure, supporting the age stereotype that characterised old directors who are wise and wisdom. Hence, the adverse disclosure behaviour can be explained by their ability to credibly withhold voluntary information and strategically disclose mandatory information on remuneration. Contrary to prior studies, this study found that ethnic diversity does not have a significant influence on directors' remuneration disclosure possibly due to the equal number of Malay and non-Malay directors on board throughout the period under review. Interestingly, cultural convergence is also known to be a contributing factor as both ethnics exercise their belief in determining the level of strategic remuneration disclosure. In line with upper echelon theory, the presence of female directors is found to be an insignificant determinant of remuneration disclosure possibly due to their risk-averse personality in the high-risk disclosure area. The third chapter aims to assess the extent to which directors' remuneration disclosure reflects information that is relevant to firm value. By using Tobin's Q, this chapter shows that directors' remuneration disclosure is value relevant in both financial and non-financial sectors among the FTSE30 companies. The finding implies that the market highly values directors' remuneration disclosure as it signals board transparency and provides a window to overall governance quality of an organisation. This chapter proposes that commitment to directors' remuneration disclosure has potential benefits that outweigh the risk of disclosing within the Malaysian context. Furthermore, this chapter explicitly addresses and justifies the potential endogeneity problem that has been ignored by typical accounting studies. Using the two-stage least squares (2SLS) technique to control for the endogeneity of voluntary remuneration disclosure in assessing its impact on firm value, findings from the robustness analysis carried out suggest that the empirical results reported are robust to potential endogeneity problems. Finally, this study provides two practical implications. First, it provides a disclosure incentive for directors to make better remuneration disclosure in the annual report. Despite that there is evidence of hesitancy to disclose due to the political volatility in Malaysia subsequent to the 12th general election in 2008, the market significantly values directors' remuneration disclosure as it signals good governance practice by the company as well as great reputation portrayed by the board members. More specifically, this study encourages disclosure on directors' remuneration as it positively affects firm value, in both financial and non-financial sectors. Secondly, this study offers essential guidelines for companies in determining the board composition. It suggests that a distinctive personality of each director can be a competitive advantage of a firm when it is properly transformed to make it congruent with the firm's objective, in achieving maximum efficiency of decision-making. While age diversity is found to be significantly associated with directors' remuneration disclosure, the remaining board diversity dimensions such as gender, and ethnicity are also significant in a condition when it is critically analysed using the upper echelon theory within the context of Malaysia. Overall, the study indicates the need to incorporate a diversified composition of the top decision-makers in deciding a strategic remuneration disclosure.

Nonprofit organizations play an important role in improving their communities. Their ability to meet community needs can be limited due to lack of diversity in their boards of directors, which can also affect equity, performance, and social justice. Procedures for harmonizing the diversity of nonprofit boards with their served community demographics are not well understood. This Delphi study investigated what strategies and practices nonprofit organizations could employ to promote greater diversity in their boards of directors. The study'€™s conceptual framework was based on the theory of diversity management. Twenty-five participants from various nonprofit boards answered open-ended questions in a 3-round through SurveyMonkey. Secondary data were obtained from each participant'€™s nonprofits to provide insight into their practices, policies, and records. These documents worked as substantiation for participant claims. Analysis of the data revealed 6 themes: getting to know the community, involving the community, widening the network to include more groups of people, accurate assessment of the community, creating representation and gaining insider perspective, and having a pool of candidates and board members fit for the position. These themes show a diversity-based strategy for the overall success of a nonprofit organization, which is based on how effectively a nonprofit board of directors establishes networks and maintains positive relationships with their served communities. The results of this study can foster positive social change by illustrating how increasing the diversity of a nonprofit board can enhance organizational effectiveness, extend the organization'€™s reach, enable the organization to serve its chosen communities better, and reduce socioeconomic inequality through new perspectives.

Yes / Drawing on collective contributions and group performance perspectives, this paper examines the role of board diversity in firms’ R&D investment decisions. Building on a fault-line argument about a team’s demographic attributes, this study also decomposes the impact of demographic and cognitive diversity on R&D spending. The study sample contains UK data of non-financial companies covering the period between 2005 and 2018. We employ panel data analysis techniques and control for potential endogeneity issues through the application of the two-step system Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) estimations. The findings demonstrate a positive and significant relationship between board diversity and level of corporate R&D spending. The findings also show cognitive diversity as significantly positively associated with corporate R&D investments. Demographic diversity, however, has an insignificant relationship with corporate spending on R&D. The results further show that demographic diversity negatively moderates the relationship between cognitive diversity and spending on R&D. Our main findings document that the board’s attributes as a group significantly influence decisions of strategic importance such as, investment in R&D projects. The findings on sub-dimensions of board diversity imply that as compared to demographic diversity, functional/cognitive diversity is more relevant to strategic decisions and related outcomes. The study has practical implications for shareholders in documenting the importance of board diversity, and policy implications for regulators in highlighting the separate roles of behavioural and cognitive diversity in shaping firms’ strategic investment decisions.

This paper examines the effect of executive board-level national culture and board nationality diversity on corporate social performance (CSP). The sample constitutes of 130 executive boards of non-financial firms from Germany, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK over the time period 2010-2014. Based on the upper echelon theory and the notion of national culture, board-level national culture is determined across Hofstede’s dimensions of power distance, individualism, masculinity and power distance. In this paper, no evidence is provided of a significant relationship between board-level national culture and the corporate social performance of the firm. In addition, nationality diversity as a double-edged sword could both enhance and hamper CSP. In this research, no significant relationship between board nationality diversity and CSP is found. In conclusion, alterations of the board composition in terms of nationality in order to foster CSP seem unjustified based on the results of this paper.

This study examines how board diversity and characteristics of directors affect the financial and non-financial performance of Swedish state-owned enterprises (SOEs). SOEs are characterized by state ownership, goal complexity, governmental funding and control and are therefore typical examples of hybrid organizations that purse both commercial and political logics. The board of directors (BODs) of SOEs as representatives of the shareholder serve as corporate governance mechanism to control and monitor the organization to achieve financial and non-financial targets. Further, the boards should compose of directors with the appropriate competence and experience as well as integrity and ethical values to govern the challenges for hybrid organizations.Therefore, information of the BODs on Swedish SOEs are conducted regarding their educational background, professional experience, multiple appointments, tenure, gender diversity and age diversity, as well as the amount of state representatives. Financial performance was measured by using Return on Assets and Return on Equity, while non-financial performance was measured as the fulfillment of non-financial goals and the amount of reported and disclosed GRI standards. Our eight research hypothesizes are all based on prior research on corporate governance concerning board diversity and firm performance in both private as well as public organizations. Moreover, institutional logics and upper echelons theory are used to explain the effects of the diversity characteristics on corporate performance. All hypothesizes were rejected due to insignificant relationship. Even though a significant relationship was indicated between professional experience of the directors and financial performance, the hypothesis was rejected, since the relationship was the opposite of the expected.One of the reasons for these results can be that institutional logics and competing goals prevent the BODs from focus too strong on either financial or non-financial targets.

I examined how politics affects corporate policies and value in two dissertation essays. In my first essay, we investigate whether diversity in points of view within corporate boards, as captured by the diversity in political ideology of board members, can affect a firm's performance. We employ personal political contributions' data to measure political ideology distance among groups of inside, outside directors and the CEO. Our empirical evidence strongly supports the notion that outside directors' monitoring effectiveness is more likely to be enhanced when their viewpoints are distinct from those of management. We find that ideologically diverse boards are associated with better firm performance, lower agency costs and less insiders' discretionary power over the firm's Political Action Committee (PAC) spending. Taken together, our results lead us to conclude that multiplicity of standpoints in corporate boardrooms is imperative for board effectiveness. In my second essay, we document that firms surrounded by high degrees of policy risk generated by local politicians' legislative activities present significantly high stock returns, indicating investors' perception of policy risk. We find that the diverse political strategies firms implement 1) successfully mitigate such policy risk, 2) help firms to acquire more lucrative procurement contracts, and 3) even get firms in trouble with legal issues. Additional results reveal that poor stock performance related to litigation is significantly recovered by political connections. Overall, our results reflect that investors view corporate political activities as effective hedging strategies against policy risk. Collectively, politics plays a critical role in determining corporate policies and/or value.

This research investigates the association between board diversity and firms’ innovation in Canada over the period of 2001 to 2015. Previous research revealed that board diversity has conflicting effects on the firm innovation depending on the country, and there is no such study conducted in Canada. Moreover, only few proxies for the board diversity have been used to study the subject in the literature. Thus, this study introduces new factors of board diversity and add to the literature by assessing the topic in Canadian firms. We found that firms with more women on the board when women members are more than one fourth of the board members can increase the number of patents. Also, while more education diversity results in more patent numbers, more diversity in the number of years that board members have served the board results in less patent numbers for the firms, it is noteworthy that there is no significant association between the deviation in the number of years that board members have served the company and the innovation of the firm.