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Jämställdhet i bolagsstyrelser och finansiell prestation

Karlin, Sara LU (2024) NEKH03 20241
Department of Economics
Abstract
This paper examines the relationship between female representation on corporate boards and financial performance in Swedish publicly listed companies from 2015 to 2023, excluding the year 2018. This study explores whether a higher proportion of women on boards of directors correlates with improved financial outcomes, measured by Tobin's Q. The empirical strategy employs both pooled Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and fixed effects models to analyze the data, considering firm-specific and time-specific variations. This research specifically investigates the relationship at three different settings: one with a continuous measure of the percent of women in a board, and two indicator variables with the thresholds of 30% and 40%, to determine if... (More)
This paper examines the relationship between female representation on corporate boards and financial performance in Swedish publicly listed companies from 2015 to 2023, excluding the year 2018. This study explores whether a higher proportion of women on boards of directors correlates with improved financial outcomes, measured by Tobin's Q. The empirical strategy employs both pooled Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and fixed effects models to analyze the data, considering firm-specific and time-specific variations. This research specifically investigates the relationship at three different settings: one with a continuous measure of the percent of women in a board, and two indicator variables with the thresholds of 30% and 40%, to determine if there is a non-linear relationship between the proportion of women and financial performance. The findings reveal that increased female board representation is significantly associated with higher financial performance. However, this relationship provides evidence against the need for a critical mass being necessary to gain the benefits of having women on boards. This study also investigates industry-specific effects but is not able to draw any conclusions, due to few observations per industry.

This study contributes to the ongoing debate on gender diversity in corporate governance by providing evidence from the Swedish context, where voluntary measures, rather than mandatory quotas, have driven improvements in gender balance. The results have implications for policymakers, companies, and investors who are considering the economic benefits of increasing female representation on corporate boards. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Karlin, Sara LU
supervisor
organization
course
NEKH03 20241
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Gender diversity, board of directors, financial performance, Tobin’s Q, critical mass
language
Swedish
id
9166408
date added to LUP
2024-09-24 09:23:44
date last changed
2024-09-24 09:23:44
@misc{9166408,
  abstract     = {{This paper examines the relationship between female representation on corporate boards and financial performance in Swedish publicly listed companies from 2015 to 2023, excluding the year 2018. This study explores whether a higher proportion of women on boards of directors correlates with improved financial outcomes, measured by Tobin's Q. The empirical strategy employs both pooled Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and fixed effects models to analyze the data, considering firm-specific and time-specific variations. This research specifically investigates the relationship at three different settings: one with a continuous measure of the percent of women in a board, and two indicator variables with the thresholds of 30% and 40%, to determine if there is a non-linear relationship between the proportion of women and financial performance. The findings reveal that increased female board representation is significantly associated with higher financial performance. However, this relationship provides evidence against the need for a critical mass being necessary to gain the benefits of having women on boards. This study also investigates industry-specific effects but is not able to draw any conclusions, due to few observations per industry.

This study contributes to the ongoing debate on gender diversity in corporate governance by providing evidence from the Swedish context, where voluntary measures, rather than mandatory quotas, have driven improvements in gender balance. The results have implications for policymakers, companies, and investors who are considering the economic benefits of increasing female representation on corporate boards.}},
  author       = {{Karlin, Sara}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Jämställdhet i bolagsstyrelser och finansiell prestation}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}