IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/canjec/v56y2023i4p1291-1321.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Board gender quotas and outward foreign direct investment: Evidence from France

Author

Listed:
  • Koray Aktaş
  • Valeria Gattai
  • Piergiovanna Natale

Abstract

We show that board gender quota laws reduce the propensity of French firms to undertake outward foreign direct investment. For this, we use firm‐level data for the period 2007 to 2015 and a difference‐in‐difference approach. The exogenous increase in the share of women directors decreases the share of foreign subsidiaries by 7 percentage points when the share of women directors is at its highest. The share of foreign subsidiaries is affected by the decrease in probability of having a foreign subsidiary, which indicates disinvestment. The effects on outward foreign direct investment we detect are strongest for the poorly managed firms, pointing to tough managerial monitoring by gender diverse boards as the driving force behind results. Quotas par sexe dans les conseils d'administration et investissements directs à l'étranger: données probantes de la France. Nous montrons que les lois sur les quotas par sexe dans les conseils d'administration réduisent la propension des entreprises françaises à réaliser des investissements directs à l'étranger (IDE). Pour ce faire, nous utilisons des données d'entreprises pour la période de 2007 à 2015 et une méthode de différence des différences. L'augmentation exogène de la proportion de femmes administratrices diminue la participation dans les filiales étrangères de 7 points de pourcentage lorsque cette proportion est la plus élevée. La quote‐part des filiales étrangères est touchée par la diminution de la probabilité d'avoir une filiale étrangère, ce qui indique un désinvestissement. Les effets sur l'IDE que nous détectons sont les plus forts pour les entreprises mal gérées, ce qui indique que la surveillance rigoureuse de la gestion par des conseils d'administration mixtes est la force vive derrière de bons résultats.

Suggested Citation

  • Koray Aktaş & Valeria Gattai & Piergiovanna Natale, 2023. "Board gender quotas and outward foreign direct investment: Evidence from France," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 56(4), pages 1291-1321, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:canjec:v:56:y:2023:i:4:p:1291-1321
    DOI: 10.1111/caje.12646
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/caje.12646
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/caje.12646?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Renee B. Adams & Benjamin E. Hermalin & Michael S. Weisbach, 2010. "The Role of Boards of Directors in Corporate Governance: A Conceptual Framework and Survey," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 48(1), pages 58-107, March.
    2. Harald Dale-Olsen & Pål Schøne & Mette Verner, 2013. "Diversity among Norwegian Boards of Directors: Does a Quota for Women Improve Firm Performance?," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(4), pages 110-135, October.
    3. David A. Matsa & Amalia R. Miller, 2013. "A Female Style in Corporate Leadership? Evidence from Quotas," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(3), pages 136-169, July.
    4. Green, Colin P. & Homroy, Swarnodeep, 2018. "Female directors, board committees and firm performance," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 19-38.
    5. Alexandra Fedorets & Anna Gibert & Norma Burow, 2019. "Gender Quotas in the Boardroom: New Evidence from Germany," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1810, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    6. Elhanan Helpman & Marc J. Melitz & Stephen R. Yeaple, 2004. "Export Versus FDI with Heterogeneous Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(1), pages 300-316, March.
    7. Bernile, Gennaro & Bhagwat, Vineet & Yonker, Scott, 2018. "Board diversity, firm risk, and corporate policies," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(3), pages 588-612.
    8. Mehdi Nekhili & Moez Bennouri & Haithem Nagati, 2022. "Do Board Gender Quotas Benefit Minority Shareholders? : An Illustration through Related-Party Transactions," Post-Print hal-04325527, HAL.
    9. Christian Leuz & Karl V. Lins & Francis E. Warnock, 2010. "Do Foreigners Invest Less in Poorly Governed Firms?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(3), pages 3245-3285, March.
    10. Alexandra Niessen-Ruenzi & Stefan Ruenzi, 2019. "Sex Matters: Gender Bias in the Mutual Fund Industry," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(7), pages 3001-3025, July.
    11. Luigi Guiso & Paola Sapienza & Luigi Zingales, 2009. "Cultural Biases in Economic Exchange?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(3), pages 1095-1131.
    12. Lu, Yi & Tao, Zhigang & Zhu, Lianming, 2017. "Identifying FDI spillovers," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 75-90.
    13. Adams, Renée B. & Ferreira, Daniel, 2009. "Women in the boardroom and their impact on governance and performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(2), pages 291-309, November.
    14. Carlos Dobkin & Amy Finkelstein & Raymond Kluender & Matthew J. Notowidigdo, 2018. "The Economic Consequences of Hospital Admissions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(2), pages 308-352, February.
    15. Mehdi Nekhili & Ammar Ali Gull & Tawhid Chtioui & Ikram Radhouane, 2020. "Gender‐diverse boards and audit fees: What difference does gender quota legislation make?," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(1-2), pages 52-99, January.
    16. Lewellen, Wilbur & Loderer, Claudio & Rosenfeld, Ahron, 1989. "Mergers, Executive Risk Reduction, and Stockholder Wealth," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 24(4), pages 459-472, December.
    17. Elhanan Helpman & Marc Melitz & Yona Rubinstein, 2008. "Estimating Trade Flows: Trading Partners and Trading Volumes," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 123(2), pages 441-487.
    18. Kathleen Arano & Carl Parker & Rory Terry, 2010. "Gender‐Based Risk Aversion And Retirement Asset Allocation," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 48(1), pages 147-155, January.
    19. Hahn, Peter D. & Lasfer, Meziane, 2016. "Impact of foreign directors on board meeting frequency," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 295-308.
    20. David Greenaway & Richard Kneller, 2007. "Firm heterogeneity, exporting and foreign direct investment," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 117(517), pages 134-161, February.
    21. Cui, Lin & Xu, Ying, 2019. "Outward FDI and profitability of emerging economy firms: Diversifying from home resource dependence in early stage internationalization," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 54(4), pages 372-386.
    22. Sebnem Kalemli-Ozcan & Bent Sorensen & Carolina Villegas-Sanchez & Vadym Volosovych & Sevcan Yesiltas, 2015. "How to Construct Nationally Representative Firm Level Data from the Orbis Global Database: New Facts and Aggregate Implications," NBER Working Papers 21558, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    23. Pascal Nguyen, 2020. "Board gender diversity and cost of equity," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(18), pages 1522-1526, October.
    24. Rachel Croson & Uri Gneezy, 2009. "Gender Differences in Preferences," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(2), pages 448-474, June.
    25. Huang, Jiekun & Kisgen, Darren J., 2013. "Gender and corporate finance: Are male executives overconfident relative to female executives?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(3), pages 822-839.
    26. Marianne Bertrand & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2003. "Enjoying the Quiet Life? Corporate Governance and Managerial Preferences," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 111(5), pages 1043-1075, October.
    27. Simona Comi & Mara Grasseni & Federica Origo & Laura Pagani, 2020. "Where Women Make a Difference: Gender Quotas and Firms’ Performance in Three European Countries," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 73(3), pages 768-793, May.
    28. Bennouri, Moez & De Amicis, Chiara & Falconieri, Sonia, 2020. "Welcome on board: A note on gender quotas regulation in Europe," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    29. Masulis, Ronald W. & Wang, Cong & Xie, Fei, 2012. "Globalizing the boardroom—The effects of foreign directors on corporate governance and firm performance," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 527-554.
    30. Levi, Maurice & Li, Kai & Zhang, Feng, 2014. "Director gender and mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 185-200.
    31. Alessandro Borin & Michele Mancini, 2016. "Foreign direct investment and firm performance: an empirical analysis of Italian firms," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 152(4), pages 705-732, November.
    32. Muriel Niederle, 2017. "A Gender Agenda: A Progress Report on Competitiveness," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(5), pages 115-119, May.
    33. Timothy H. Hannan & Ferdinand Mavinga, 1980. "Expense Preference and Managerial Control: the Case of the Banking Firm," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 11(2), pages 671-682, Autumn.
    34. Mario Daniele Amore & Orsola Garofalo & Alessandro Minichilli, 2014. "Gender Interactions Within the Family Firm," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(5), pages 1083-1097, May.
    35. Gerald Yong Gao & Danny Tan Wang & Yi Che, 2018. "Impact of historical conflict on FDI location and performance: Japanese investment in China," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 49(8), pages 1060-1080, October.
    36. Renée B. Adams & Daniel Ferreira, 2007. "A Theory of Friendly Boards," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 62(1), pages 217-250, February.
    37. Bøhren, Øyvind & Staubo, Siv, 2014. "Does mandatory gender balance work? Changing organizational form to avoid board upheaval," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 152-168.
    38. Paula Arndt & Katharina Wrohlich, 2019. "Gender Quotas in a European Comparison: Tough Sanctions Most Effective," DIW Weekly Report, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 9(38), pages 337-344.
    39. Øyvind Bøhren & Siv Staubo, 2016. "Mandatory Gender Balance and Board Independence," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 22(1), pages 3-30, January.
    40. Kenneth R. Ahern & Amy K. Dittmar, 2012. "The Changing of the Boards: The Impact on Firm Valuation of Mandated Female Board Representation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 127(1), pages 137-197.
    41. Greene, Daniel & Intintoli, Vincent J. & Kahle, Kathleen M., 2020. "Do board gender quotas affect firm value? Evidence from California Senate Bill No. 826," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    42. Sørensen, Bent E & Kalemli-Özcan, Sebnem & Volosovych, Vadym & Villegas-Sanchez, Carolina & Yesiltas, Sevcan, 2015. "How to construct nationally representative firm level data from the ORBIS global database," CEPR Discussion Papers 10829, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    43. Nermeen Shehata & Ahmed Salhin & Moataz El-Helaly, 2017. "Board diversity and firm performance: evidence from the U.K. SMEs," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(48), pages 4817-4832, October.
    44. Ahern, Kenneth R. & Daminelli, Daniele & Fracassi, Cesare, 2015. "Lost in translation? The effect of cultural values on mergers around the world," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(1), pages 165-189.
    45. Imbens,Guido W. & Rubin,Donald B., 2015. "Causal Inference for Statistics, Social, and Biomedical Sciences," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521885881, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Koray Aktas & Valeria Gattai & Piergiovanna Natale, 2021. "Board Gender Quotas and Outward Foreign Direct Investment: Evidence from France," Working Papers 485, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics, revised Dec 2021.
    2. Gattai, Valeria & Natale, Piergiovanna & Rossi, Francesca, 2023. "Board diversity and outward FDI: Evidence from europe," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    3. Valeria Gattai & Piergiovanna Natale & Francesca Rossi, 2022. "Board Diversity and Outward FDI: Evidence from Europe," Working Papers 491, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics, revised Mar 2022.
    4. Bennouri, Moez & Chtioui, Tawhid & Nagati, Haithem & Nekhili, Mehdi, 2018. "Female board directorship and firm performance: What really matters?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 267-291.
    5. Antoine Rebérioux & Gwenaël Roudaut, 2016. "Gender Quota inside the Boardroom: Female Directors as New Key Players?," Working Papers hal-01297884, HAL.
    6. Garanina, Tatiana & Muravyev, Alexander, 2021. "The gender composition of corporate boards and firm performance: Evidence from Russia," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    7. Carbonero, Francesco & Devicienti, Francesco & Manello, Alessandro & Vannoni, Davide, 2021. "Women on board and firm export attitudes: Evidence from Italy," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 159-175.
    8. Cécile Casteuble & Laetitia Lepetit & Thu Tha Tran, 2019. "Women on boards: do quotas affect firm performance?," Working Papers hal-02385034, HAL.
    9. Ding, Rong & Duan, Tinghua & Hou, Wenxuan & Liu, Xianda & Xu, Ziwei, 2022. "Do women drive corporate social responsibility? Evidence from gender diversity reforms around the world," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    10. Fan, Yaoyao & Jiang, Yuxiang & Zhang, Xuezhi & Zhou, Yue, 2019. "Women on boards and bank earnings management: From zero to hero," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 1-1.
    11. Amore, Mario Daniele & Garofalo, Orsola, 2016. "Executive gender, competitive pressures, and corporate performance," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 131(PA), pages 308-327.
    12. Ferreira, Daniel & Ginglinger, Edith & Laguna, Marie-Aude & Skalli, Yasmine, 2017. "Board Quotas and Director-Firm Matching," CEPR Discussion Papers 12117, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    13. Mario Daniele Amore & Orsola Garofalo & Alessandro Minichilli, 2014. "Gender Interactions Within the Family Firm," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(5), pages 1083-1097, May.
    14. Berger, Allen N. & Kick, Thomas & Schaeck, Klaus, 2014. "Executive board composition and bank risk taking," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 48-65.
    15. Mobbs, Shawn & Tan, Yongxian & Zhang, Shage, 2021. "Female directors: Why are some less informed than others?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    16. Simona Comi & Mara Grasseni & Federica Origo & Laura Pagani, 2020. "Where Women Make a Difference: Gender Quotas and Firms’ Performance in Three European Countries," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 73(3), pages 768-793, May.
    17. Poletti-Hughes, Jannine & Briano-Turrent, Guadalupe C., 2019. "Gender diversity on the board of directors and corporate risk: A behavioural agency theory perspective," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 80-90.
    18. John M. Barrios & Pietro A. Bianchi & Helena Isidro, 2020. "Random-Coefficients Logit Demand Estimation with Zero-Valued Market Shares," Working Papers 2020-20, Becker Friedman Institute for Research In Economics.
    19. Huang, Yichu & Fang, Feifei & Fan, Yaoyao & Ly, Kim Cuong, 2024. "Do ‘Lehman Sisters’ work in China? Women on boards and bank risk," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    20. Baghdadi, Ghasan A. & Safiullah, Md & Heyden, Mariano L.M., 2023. "Do gender diverse boards enhance managerial ability?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:canjec:v:56:y:2023:i:4:p:1291-1321. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1111/(ISSN)1540-5982 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.