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Top-Decision Making Bodies of Large Businesses: Gender Quota for Supervisory Boards Is Effective—Development Is Almost at a Standstill for Executive Boards

Author

Listed:
  • Elke Holst
  • Katharina Wrohlich

Abstract

The gender quota for supervisory boards in Germany is effective: by the end of 2017, the proportion of women on the supervisory boards of a good 100 companies that are subject to the quota had risen to 30 percent—three percentage points more than in the previous year. Almost two-thirds of the companies now have supervisory boards with at least 30 percent female members. A European comparison also shows that quota laws work—particularly under the threat of sanctions. So far, there has not been a gender quota introduced for executive boards in Germany. The development of the proportion of women on these boards has almost come to a standstill: of the 200 companies that had generated the most revenue, the proportion of women on each one’s executive board at the end of 2017 was around eight percent. In order to bring more women to executive boards and keep them there, it is in their interest for companies to quickly build up and expand their pool of potential female candidates. The next federal government should support this process of reformation by improving general conditions, including strengthening the so far voluntary guidelines for women in high leadership positions.

Suggested Citation

  • Elke Holst & Katharina Wrohlich, 2018. "Top-Decision Making Bodies of Large Businesses: Gender Quota for Supervisory Boards Is Effective—Development Is Almost at a Standstill for Executive Boards," DIW Weekly Report, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 8(3), pages 17-31.
    • Handle: RePEc:diw:diwdwr:dwr8-3-1
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    File URL: https://www.diw.de/documents/publikationen/73/diw_01.c.575405.de/dwr-18-03-1.pdf
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Viktor Bozhinov & Jasmin Joecks & Katrin Scharfenkamp, 2021. "Gender spillovers from supervisory boards to management boards," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(5), pages 1317-1331, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    corporate boards; board composition; boards of directors; board diversity; Europe; women directors; gender equality; gender quota; Germany; management; private companies; public companies; supervisory boards; executive boards; CEOs; women;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J59 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Other
    • J78 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Public Policy (including comparable worth)
    • L21 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Business Objectives of the Firm
    • L32 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Public Enterprises; Public-Private Enterprises
    • M14 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Corporate Culture; Diversity; Social Responsibility
    • M51 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Firm Employment Decisions; Promotions

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