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Female Leadership and Gender Gap within Firms: Evidence from an Italian Board Reform

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  • Agata Maida
  • Andrea Weber

Abstract

The authors evaluate a 2011 Italian law that installed a step-wise increase in gender quota that remains effective for three consecutive board renewals of listed limited liability firms. They link firm-level information on board membership and board election dates with detailed employment and earnings records from the Social Security registers. Exploiting the staggered introduction of the gender quota regulation and variation in board renewal years across firms, the authors evaluate the effect of the board gender composition on measures of gender diversity in top positions over a period of four years. While the reform substantially raised the female membership on corporate boards, results show only moderate and imprecisely estimated spillover effects on the representation of women in top executive or top earnings positions.

Suggested Citation

  • Agata Maida & Andrea Weber, 2022. "Female Leadership and Gender Gap within Firms: Evidence from an Italian Board Reform," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 75(2), pages 488-515, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:75:y:2022:i:2:p:488-515
    DOI: 10.1177/0019793920961995
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    gender quota; corporate board reform; glass ceiling; female employment; female managers;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J7 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination
    • J78 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Public Policy (including comparable worth)

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