Gender Diversity in Senior Positions and Firm Performance: Evidence from Europe

30 Pages Posted: 6 Apr 2016

See all articles by Lone Christiansen

Lone Christiansen

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Huidan Lin

International Monetary Fund

Joana Pereira

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Petia B. Topalova

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Rima Turk-Ariss

International Monetary Fund; Economic Research Forum

Date Written: March 2016

Abstract

This paper examines the link between gender diversity in senior corporate positions and financial performance of 2 million companies in Europe. We document a positive association between corporate return on assets and the share of women in senior positions and establish two potential channels through which gender diversity may affect firm performance. The positive correlation is more pronounced in, first, sectors where women form a larger share of the labor force (such as the services sector) and, second, where complementarities in skills and critical thinking are in high demand (such as high-tech and knowledge-intensive sectors).

Keywords: Gender diversity, senior management, firm performance, gender, women, female intensity, labor force, productivity, General, Economics of Gender, Public Policy, Personnel Economics: General,

JEL Classification: G30, J16, J78, M50

Suggested Citation

Christiansen, Lone and Lin, Huidan and Pereira, Joana and Topalova, Petia B. and Turk-Ariss, Rima, Gender Diversity in Senior Positions and Firm Performance: Evidence from Europe (March 2016). IMF Working Paper No. 16/50, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2759759

Lone Christiansen (Contact Author)

International Monetary Fund (IMF) ( email )

700 19th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20431
United States

Huidan Lin

International Monetary Fund ( email )

700 19th Street
Washington D.C., DC 20431
United States

Joana Pereira

International Monetary Fund (IMF) ( email )

700 19th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20431
United States

Petia B. Topalova

International Monetary Fund (IMF) ( email )

700 19th Street N.W.
Washington, DC 20431
United States

Rima Turk-Ariss

International Monetary Fund ( email )

700 19th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20431
United States

Economic Research Forum ( email )

21 Al-Sad Al-Aaly St.
(P.O. Box: 12311)
Dokki, Cairo
Egypt

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