Thesis advisor: Claudia Olivetti / Thesis advisor: Arthur Lewbel / The goal of this dissertation is to understand the absence of women from executive and high-earning positions, with a special focus on the corporate environment. In the first chapter, I analyze the role of news media towards explaining why women in top executive roles in the United States face more unstable appointments relative to their male counterparts. To improve female representation at the top of the firm, several European countries mandated gender quotas on corporate boards. In the second chapter, I analyze a board gender quota mandated on Italian listed companies and its effects on the composition of the board and firm performance. Family responsibilities are among the most important factors that prevent women from reaching high-earning positions. In the third chapter, I broaden the scope of my investigation to high-skill women in the United States, and provide explanations for the very large increase in childcare hours spent on young children by high-skill mothers of the recent generations. The first chapter, “Media Focus, Executive Turnover, and Female Leadership”, analyzes how the tendency of news media to focus on negative events affects executive turnover in publicly listed firms in the U.S., and to what extent negative media focus explains the relatively higher incidence of turnover for women in top executive roles. Negative media focus implies that news reporting decisions can produce downward-biased public beliefs on firm performance. From the standpoint of a rational board, pessimistic public beliefs on firm performance may affect the expected benefit of retaining a CEO, and in turn, turnover decisions. Linking CEO positions to firm-level news, I provide evidence that the negative focus is higher when a company is led by a woman or an outsider CEO. Counterfactual simulations from a model of executive turnover with event-dependent media focus show that the higher negative focus explains around 15% of the differential turnover rate in female-led firms, even when women are as effective at managing the firm as their male counterparts. In the second chapter, “Do Board Gender Quotas Matter? Selection, Performance, and Stock Market Effects”, co-authored with Giulia Ferrari, Paola Profeta, and Chiara Pronzato, I analyze the effects of a gender quota mandated on corporate boards of Italian listed companies in 2013. Exploiting staggered board elections, we find that quotas are associated with a new selection of board members – characterized by higher education and lower age – and no significant costs, neither on firm performance nor on the stock market. In the third chapter, “Revisiting the Childcare Gap Between High- and Low-Skill mothers”, I show that information diffusion on the importance of early child development has been growing fast starting from the mid-1990s. At the same time, childcare hours have increased, especially for mothers of very young children and the high-educated. I argue that information diffusion on the importance of early investments coupled with increasing income inequality plays an important role towards rationalizing some of the trends in childcare time and the widening of the education gradient in childcare hours at different ages of the child’s lifecycle. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Economics.

We find significant evidence that academic directors enhance firms’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance after examining a sample of S&P 1,500 firms for years 2002 to 2011. The presence of academic directors in corporate board increases firms’ CSR performance. Within academic directors, female academic directors have positive incremental effect on firm’s CSR performance. We also find that academic directors’ and female academic directors’ influence on CSR activity is not similar across CSR components. Among seven qualitative components of CSR, academic directors have significant positive effect on community, diversity, environment and product components. At the same time, female academic directors have positive effect on diversity and employee relations but negative effect on environment. Finally, we observe that the effect of academics on CSR is heterogeneous across their academic specialization and experience. In particular, we note that academics with administrative responsibility, business background and industry experience have significant positive effect on firms’ CSR performance.

Replicating and extending Singh and Vinnicombe (2006), the primary problems addressed in this research are: What factors influence women's attainment of corporate directorships? And what are the proportions of female executive and non-executive directors and CEOs in New Zealand? Executive directors are company employees who attain board directorships via progressing through CEO and other top management roles; therefore, this study included an investigation of the proportion of women in executive and non-executive director and CEO roles in New Zealand companies. To understand women's non-progression to corporate boards, 11 male and female directors were interviewed. Contrary to international research findings, the majority of interviewees in this study emphasised the importance of networks in attaining corporate directorships in New Zealand. Explanations for women's under-representation on corporate boards included lack of networks, family commitments, pipeline theory, lack of aspiration for power, career choices, risk adversity, male organisational culture, discrimination and women's unsuitability for director roles. Archival analysis indicated that of a total of 1366 corporate directors, women constituted 88 (6.44%) directorships. Women held 64 non-executive (4.69% of total directorships), 23 executive (1.68% of total directorships) and one alternate directorship. The findings indicated that there were only five women CEOs and only five out of a total of 240 New Zealand corporate boards achieved gender equality. Social identity theory was used to provide insight into this change resistant phenomenon.

The European Union has been working to promote equality between women and men for a long time. Despite this, Sweden still have a gender segregated labor market where men generally has the leading positions. According to European law the member states shall promote gender equality and to take all appropriate measures. Statutory gender quotas for company boards is one such measure that some of the European member states have implemented in national law. The Swedish law has no provisions governing gender quotas and therefore the purpose of this study is to explain how gender quotas for company boards relate to current law, both of European law and national legislation. After examining the legal situation I am also referring to examine however an extent eventual legislation is possible, with the principle of non-discrimination in consideration. The main goal of Swedish gender equality policy is that women and men should have the same power to shape society and their own lives. There should be just as much power and similar power resources between women and men. The government argued that a change must be made regarding the structural power relations between men and women, where women as a group are still subordinate to men. It is found that women more generally occupies subordinate positions in society. This is something that has its origin from the past. The question is whether the statutory quotas are the correct action to take to fulfill this target objective.

Title: Nudging towards gender equality: An application of social norms to explain female increasement in corporate boards.   Authors: Freja Redder Petersson & Ida Eklund   Level: Master thesis, 30 hp    Keywords: Nudging, Social norms, Gender equality, Corporate boards Background: Sweden is regarded as one of the leading countries when it comes to gender equality, but women are still underrepresented in corporate boards in the private sector. Research argues that increasing the female representation is beneficial for companies, and it seems as if the people in the boards need to change their behavior in order to better themselves in the matter. To change behavior, social norms can be used, and in relation to this, the concept of nudgingas a way of changing behavior is a new and interesting field to look at, particularly in relationship to increasing female representation in boards.    Research question: What is affecting corporate boards in the private sector to increase their female representation and to what extent is this connected to nudging?   Purpose: The purpose of this study is to describe how corporate boards view gender equality, explain important factors in the process of gender equality work. Further, the aim is to develop and broaden the academic field of nudging by uncovering nudge-related influences in regard to an increasement of women in corporate boards.   Method: A qualitative research method was used in this study, by semi-structured interviews with ten respondents from various boards in the private sector in Sweden, and one expert in the research field. The respondent companies were chosen because of their gender equal boards.    Theoretical Framework: Theories about how corporate boards function, gender equality work and effects of women entrance in boards are presented. Followed by behavioral economic-theories focusing on rational and irrational behaviors which derived the concept of nudging that are lastly discussed. Within nudging, choice architecture, social norms and loss aversion are addressed.      Findings: In this study, the findings of what is affecting corporate boards in the private sector to increase their female representation is divided into two approaches. The first implies that the so-called nudge-related influences are affecting the boards, primarily with the factors of choice architecture, social norms and legal norms. These factors have been found to be greatly connected to nudging. The second approach shows the finding that two other influences, power and competence, also affects corporate boards to increase their female representation and move towards gender equality.

This paper examines the relationship between female participation in top management and on corporate boards and firm financial performance. Over the last few decades, the presence of women in the labor force has increased drastically, but the same level of growth is not apparent in top management and on corporate boards. The impact women in top leadership positions have on firm value is investigated in this paper using financial measures of stock price growth, return on equity, and current ratio. The study finds that gender positively impacts financial performance. Additionally, the paper examines whether the presence of women affects acquisition-related activity in a company. Gender stereotyping leads to perceptions that women are less aggressive in business dealings than men are. This paper shows that there is no significant relationship between gender and aggression. Finally, I investigate the impact the presence of a female CEO or Chairman of the board has on the level of women in top leadership in the company. Current literature refers to a “glass ceiling” that occurs for women, which makes it difficult for them to get to the very top. The existence of male-dominated connections and networks might prohibit women from getting promoted. Does that change when the top leadership of the company is a woman? This research suggests that there is, in fact, a positive relationship between female leaders and female participation. This indicates the need for more mentorship and guidance for women as they progress through their careers, as well as a change in hiring policies. Procedures that take into consideration the talent that women have to offer could lead to improved financial success and increased female participation.

Due to various corporate scandals and failures, there has been a renewed interest on the role of boards in the performance of firms. This thesis examines the relationship between the key board characteristics and firm performance. Unlike most studies on boards which predominantly use only financial variables affecting governance, I take a different approach by combining them with non-financial variables. This combined set of variables is used for theoretical and empirical modelling. Based on the extant literature, I develop a conceptual framework and a set of hypotheses to examine the relationship between board characteristics and firm performance. Board characteristics considered in this research include board size, director ownership, CEO duality, gender diversity, educational qualification of board members and number of board meetings. Additionally, I use board size as a moderating variable to examine how the effect of other board characteristics is contingent on board size. Firm performance is measured by return on assets. I test my hypotheses on a longitudinal sample of 156 firms over a four year period from 2004 to 2007. My sample includes all firms listed on New Zealand stock exchange as on November 2007. Empirical analysis is undertaken using Generalised Least Squares analyses. The findings of the study show that board characteristics such as board size, CEO duality and gender diversity were positively related with firm performance, where as director ownership, board meetings and the number of board members with PhD level education was found to be negatively related. Board size was found to be moderating some of these relationships, indicating the critical role being played by board size in the design and role of corporate boards. The findings also provide partial evidence to different governance theories, further indicating the need for theoretical pluralism to gain insights into boards’ functioning. The study contributes to the understanding of board-performance link by examining both the traditional variables such as board size, CEO duality, and number of board meetings as well as other organisational attributes such as gender diversity and competence variables represented by women and PhD holders, respectively. The theoretical framework and the findings of my thesis are expected to stimulate scholars for further research to identify the contingency conditions upon which the board characteristics and firm performance may be dependent.

Due to various corporate scandals and failures, there has been a renewed interest on the role of boards in the performance of firms. This thesis examines the relationship between the key board characteristics and firm performance. Unlike most studies on boards which predominantly use only financial variables affecting governance, I take a different approach by combining them with non-financial variables. This combined set of variables is used for theoretical and empirical modelling. Based on the extant literature, I develop a conceptual framework and a set of hypotheses to examine the relationship between board characteristics and firm performance. Board characteristics considered in this research include board size, director ownership, CEO duality, gender diversity, educational qualification of board members and number of board meetings. Additionally, I use board size as a moderating variable to examine how the effect of other board characteristics is contingent on board size. Firm performance is measured by return on assets. I test my hypotheses on a longitudinal sample of 156 firms over a four year period from 2004 to 2007. My sample includes all firms listed on New Zealand stock exchange as on November 2007. Empirical analysis is undertaken using Generalised Least Squares analyses. The findings of the study show that board characteristics such as board size, CEO duality and gender diversity were positively related with firm performance, where as director ownership, board meetings and the number of board members with PhD level education was found to be negatively related. Board size was found to be moderating some of these relationships, indicating the critical role being played by board size in the design and role of corporate boards. The findings also provide partial evidence to different governance theories, further indicating the need for theoretical pluralism to gain insights into boards’ functioning. The study contributes to the understanding of board-performance link by examining both the traditional variables such as board size, CEO duality, and number of board meetings as well as other organisational attributes such as gender diversity and competence variables represented by women and PhD holders, respectively. The theoretical framework and the findings of my thesis are expected to stimulate scholars for further research to identify the contingency conditions upon which the board characteristics and firm performance may be dependent.

Gender bias may cause organizations to lose the values that women bring to the workplace in leadership positions and may thwart women from reaching their personal goals. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive multiple case study was to explore gender bias and its influence on women on corporate boards, their roles, appointment, and the need to develop coping strategies to deal with gender bias to execute their roles. The conceptual lens used was Tajfel and Turner's social identity theory to explain the basis for intergroup discrimination, and Eagly and Karau's role congruity theory of prejudice to explain the exclusion of women from corporate boards as a result of gender bias. The research question focused on identifying gender bias and experiences of women on a corporate board. Social media and snowball sampling were used to recruit 6 English-speaking women on corporate boards who had experienced gender bias at the time of their appointment and in their roles on corporate boards in the public and private sectors in provinces and territories throughout Canada. Data sources included interviews, journaling, and analysis of physical artifacts such as government reports and databases of women on corporate boards. Using Yin's 5 phases of analysis, the study identified 7 emergent themes in the data sources: discrimination, harassment, organizational climate, well-being, disruption, empowerment, and leading. The study's potential for positive social change resides within its potential to promote the internal transformation of women as they deal with bias. Men also need an improved understanding of their perceptions of women in the governance structures of society to help reduce gender bias toward women.

This dissertation consists of three essays examining the relation between corporate governance and firm performance. The theme of this study is that the widely documented long-term underperformance in equity carve-outs can be partly explained by weak corporate governance. The first essay presented in Chapter 2 explores the effect of shareholder-rights protection on the performance of a sample of firms that initiated a carve-out during the period 1983-2004. Using the Gompers, Ishii, and Metrick (2003) index and Bebchuk, Cohen, and Ferrell (2004) entrenchment index, as proxies for the quality of shareholder-rights protection, I provide evidence that firms with better shareholder rights protection outperform those with weaker rights protection. Results indicate that the weaker the rights protection, the greater the degree of underperformance. Overall, the results are robust to measures of firm performance and to model specification. The second essay presented in Chapter 3 examines the relation between firm performance and board structure. In particular, I study how board size, board independence, and CEO duality influence firm performance. I find that board size for non-financial firms is negatively related to firm performance but positively associated with performance for financial firms. Board independence is positively related to firm performance and CEO duality is negatively associated with performance for both financial and non-financial firms. These results are robust to various measures of firm performance. The conflicting evidence on board size, between financials and non-financials, seems to suggest that the scope and complexity of a firm.s operations drives board size. The third essay presented in Chapter 4 investigates corporate ownership and firm performance. I focus on insider ownership, outside blockholder ownership, and ownership concentration. Results show that insider ownership is negatively related to firm performance even at low levels of insider ownership levels. It is plausible that the combination of parent ownership and management ownership in the subsidiary exacerbate the entrenchment effect thus overwhelming the incentive alignment effects that theory posits. I document a positive relation between outside blockholder ownership and firm performance. And finally, I show that the level of ownership concentration increases (decreases) in anticipation of positive (negative) changes in firm performance.