Women on Boards

Business and Professional Ethics Journal 37 (1):1-12 (2018)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

In recent years, the US, UK, and Continental Europe have pursued board gender diversity through markedly different means. Several European countries have imposed mandatory quotas, whereas the UK and US are relying on the endogenous mechanisms of social pressure and shareholder proposals respectively. Despite their obvious allure as a means of bringing about rapid change, evidence is mounting that European board gender diversity quotas may yield various deleterious side effects; and quotas may not be as successful in their core aim of promoting gender diversity as initial broad statistical measures indicated. In this paper we critique the European quota regime, and consider US shareholder proposals as an alternative change mechanism for improving gender diversity in corporate boards. We note the lack of shareholder representative democracy in Europe and conclude with the policy recommendation that, rather than extending quotas, European governments should focus on empowering shareholders.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 93,612

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Women on Boards.John Dobson & Mahdi Rastad - 2018 - Business and Professional Ethics Journal 37 (1):1-12.
Soft regulation of women on boards: Evidence from Canada.Erin Oldford - 2022 - Business and Society Review 127 (4):779-808.

Analytics

Added to PP
2018-03-19

Downloads
33 (#473,035)

6 months
9 (#439,104)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Jack Dobson
University of Canberra

Citations of this work

No citations found.

Add more citations

References found in this work

No references found.

Add more references