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Are Gender Board Quotas Effective? A Synthetic Control Method Analysis of the Italian Case.

Avanzini, Maria Letizia LU (2022) EKHS42 20221
Department of Economic History
Abstract
The lack of women in leadership positions in the corporate sector is widespread throughout Europe. In this thesis, I study the efficacy of the Italian Gender Board Quota law no. 120/2011 in reducing such disparity in the Italian context. The impact of the policy is analysed with the innovative synthetic control methodology, which creates a no-policy scenario for Italy. By comparing the synthetic counterfactual with the actual evolution of number of board seats occupied by women, I find that this figure would not have increased without a policy intervention. Before the policy, women on boards of public listed companies were less than 50. After the policy, they rose to more than 150, while in a no-policy scenario they would be fixed at... (More)
The lack of women in leadership positions in the corporate sector is widespread throughout Europe. In this thesis, I study the efficacy of the Italian Gender Board Quota law no. 120/2011 in reducing such disparity in the Italian context. The impact of the policy is analysed with the innovative synthetic control methodology, which creates a no-policy scenario for Italy. By comparing the synthetic counterfactual with the actual evolution of number of board seats occupied by women, I find that this figure would not have increased without a policy intervention. Before the policy, women on boards of public listed companies were less than 50. After the policy, they rose to more than 150, while in a no-policy scenario they would be fixed at around 50. This finding suggests that affirmative action policies such as Gender Board Quota laws are important tools to improve diversity in historical male-dominated environments and to inspire other women to achieve similar leadership positions. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Avanzini, Maria Letizia LU
supervisor
organization
course
EKHS42 20221
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Gender board quota, labour market, inequality.
language
English
id
9088434
date added to LUP
2022-06-28 10:15:45
date last changed
2022-06-28 10:15:45
@misc{9088434,
  abstract     = {{The lack of women in leadership positions in the corporate sector is widespread throughout Europe. In this thesis, I study the efficacy of the Italian Gender Board Quota law no. 120/2011 in reducing such disparity in the Italian context. The impact of the policy is analysed with the innovative synthetic control methodology, which creates a no-policy scenario for Italy. By comparing the synthetic counterfactual with the actual evolution of number of board seats occupied by women, I find that this figure would not have increased without a policy intervention. Before the policy, women on boards of public listed companies were less than 50. After the policy, they rose to more than 150, while in a no-policy scenario they would be fixed at around 50. This finding suggests that affirmative action policies such as Gender Board Quota laws are important tools to improve diversity in historical male-dominated environments and to inspire other women to achieve similar leadership positions.}},
  author       = {{Avanzini, Maria Letizia}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Are Gender Board Quotas Effective? A Synthetic Control Method Analysis of the Italian Case.}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}