Moderating role of gender diversity in the relationship between intellectual capital efficiency and corporate performance

Purpose - In today’s knowledge-based economy, companies are hugely driven by intangible resources such as intellectual capital. However, whether corporate governance of a company drives intellectual capital is less explored in emerging economies. We examine the impact of intellectual capital efficiency on firm performance for Indian firms, considering the moderating role of board gender diversity. Design/methodology/approach - We have created a framework for panel data analysis and conducted estimation using the dynamic panel data model to control for endogeneity and heteroskedasticity issues. We use alternate performance and gender diversity measures for our sample of top 500 listed companies for a period of six years, that is 2015–2020. Findings - The results demonstrate a significant positive association between intellectual capital and performance. However, moderating impact of gender diversity on the relationship between intellectual capital and performance is not significant. Practical implications - The findings indicate that IC plays a crucial role in a company’s performance, which may boost economic growth. Further, the findings reveal that despite the mandatory quota for women on boards in Indian companies, their impact on IC is subliminal. It may be because the critical mass is yet to be achieved, which should be considered by policy-makers while framing policies in this area. Originality/value - Our study is one of the foremost studies to consider the impact of mandatory gender quotas while examining the association between tangible and intangible firm performance. It makes an incremental contribution to literature to enrich our understanding on the influence of gender diversity on intellectual capital-performance linkages.