Unpacking women’s power on corporate boards: gender reward in board composition

Abstract

Participation of women on corporate boards has long been a topic of debate in academia and practice. Yet, the threshold of women's participation in a corporate board to obtain a synergetic impact on corporate sustainability performance remains to be examined. Data from 19 European countries, having 2640 firm-year of observation, this study revealed that women on boards positively affect corporate sustainability performance in the European context, with an approximately 30% participation of women on boards (WoB) ensuring synergetic impact. This study further revealed that after the threshold of WoB participation, the market value of companies tends to be negative in the European setting. An indication of investors' reactions. The issue was first examined through the lens of the resource-based view, social role, agency and critical mass theories and then empirically tested. To reach a conclusion, this study employs both static and dynamic econometric models; thus, the finding is consistent and empirically robust. The research findings contribute to the current discussion on corporate governance and corporate sustainability performances issues, especially in the European context, and have implications for researchers, business practitioners, and policymakers.