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Women on corporate boards in Italy

Author

Listed:
  • Magda Bianco

    (Bank of Italy)

  • Angela Ciavarella

    (Consob)

  • Rossella Signoretti

    (Consob)

Abstract

We examine the presence of women in Italian corporate boards before the introduction of Law 120/2012. We consider all directors of publicly-traded firms in 2008-10 and investigate the potential determinants of having boards with gender-diverse representation and the correlation between female directorship and selected governance measures. Two different models emerge. In the majority of diverse boards at least one of the women has a family connection with the controlling shareholder: family-affiliated women are more frequently found in smaller companies, firms with a concentrated ownership, businesses that operate in the consumer sector and those with larger boards. By contrast, unaffiliated women are more common in widely held companies, companies with younger and more highly educated boards, those with a higher proportion of independent directors and those with fewer “connected” directors. With reference to governance-related outcomes, the number of board meetings is positively correlated with the presence of women on boards, while no difference is found between female and male directors in board meeting attendance.

Suggested Citation

  • Magda Bianco & Angela Ciavarella & Rossella Signoretti, 2013. "Women on corporate boards in Italy," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 174, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    • Handle: RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_174_13
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    File URL: https://www.bancaditalia.it/pubblicazioni/qef/2013-0174/QEF_174.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Khandelwal, Chandni & Kumar, Satish & Madhavan, Vinodh & Pandey, Nitesh, 2020. "Do board characteristics impact corporate risk disclosures? The Indian experience," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 103-111.
    2. Francesca di Donato & Delio Panaro & Sara Trucco, 2016. "Board Gender Diversity, Network and Firms’ Performance in the Italian Listed Companies," International Journal of Business and Management, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 11(10), pages 332-332, September.
    3. Silvia Del Prete & Maria Lucia Stefani, 2021. "Women as “gold dust”: Gender diversity in top boards and the performance of Italian banks," Economic Notes, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, vol. 50(2), July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    gender diversity; corporate governance; board of directors.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation

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