Relationship between governance diversity and company growth: Evidence from the FT 1000 Europe's fastest growing companies

Abstract

The issue of diversity within the boards of directors (BoD) of companies is a key topic; however, it is still highly focused on gender diversity. In this study, several elements of BoD diversity are related to economic variables other than profitability, namely corporate growth, by analysing the fifth annual Financial Times (FT) 1000 ranking based on the Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR). These results indicate that gender diversity does not affect corporate growth. Instead, the BoD's age and members' educational levels play a key role.