Background: Corporate governance is crucial for organizational success, with the board of directors as the leading factor. Gender diversity in the boardroom and its impact on companies’ financial performance is a hot topic as legal gender quotas are present in some countries. In Sweden, other regulations are in place though. Research shows that diverse boards enhance decision-making and performance, with gender-balanced boards often leading to increased profitability and turnover. However, some studies suggest negative financial impacts due to a phenomenon known as tokenism. Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of gender diversity on the stock performance of Swedish industrial and healthcare firms during the crisis periods 2008-2009 and 2020-2021 and to compare the sectors’ outcomes. By studying this relationship, the thesis aims to contribute to existing literature about corporate governance. Method: This study uses a sample of Swedish industrial and healthcare companies for a panel regression analysis. Data has been collected from Yahoo Finance and the companies’ annual reports. A positivist deductive approach using a quantitative strategy is utilized to test whether the theories are supported by the results. Control variables include firm size, board size, and average age, while the dependent variable is cumulative return, and the independent variable is the percentage of women on the board of directors. Conclusion: The findings suggest that gender diversity influences cumulative returns, particularly benefiting the industrial sector during 2020-2021 and the healthcare sector during 2008-2009. These results illustrate the importance of gender diversity within the board of directors during financial crises, especially in male-dominated sectors in the modern era.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:hj-64463 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Pettersson, Adam, Svensson, Clara |
| Publisher | Jönköping University, IHH, Företagsekonomi |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
Page generated in 0.0186 seconds