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Markedly More Women on Executive Boards of Large Companies; Inclusion Requirement Seemingly Already Having an Effect

Author

Listed:
  • Anja Kirsch
  • Virginia Sondergeld
  • Katharina Wrohlich

Abstract

There was a significant increase in the number of women on executive boards of large companies in Germany from 2020 to 2021 after years of slow progress: In fall 2021, there were 139 women on the executive boards of the 200 largest companies, 38 more than in 2020. This is an increase of a good three percentage points to almost 15 percent, the largest seen since the beginning of the DIW Berlin Women Executives Barometer in 2006. There were also markedly more female executive board members on average in the DAX companies. The inclusion requirement for executive boards (Beteiligungsgebot für Vorstände), which was adopted in 2021 and comes into effect in August 2022, has clearly resulted in anticipation effects: The share of female executive board members of companies subject to the requirement has increased from a good 14 percent to a good 19 percent. In contrast, the share of female executive board members of companies not subject to the requirement only increased from 11 percent to around 14 percent. Similar to the gender quota for supervisory boards, this shows that statutory requirements are an effective instrument for increasing the share of women on boards. The momentum in supervisory boards, however, was markedly weaker in 2021 than in previous years.

Suggested Citation

  • Anja Kirsch & Virginia Sondergeld & Katharina Wrohlich, 2022. "Markedly More Women on Executive Boards of Large Companies; Inclusion Requirement Seemingly Already Having an Effect," DIW Weekly Report, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 12(3/4), pages 20-31.
    • Handle: RePEc:diw:diwdwr:dwr12-3-2
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    File URL: https://www.diw.de/documents/publikationen/73/diw_01.c.834195.de/dwr-22-03-2.pdf
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    Cited by:

    1. Virginia Sondergeld & Katharina Wrohlich, 2023. "Women in Management and the Gender Pay Gap," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 2046, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    corporate boards; board composition; boards of directors; boarddiversity; Europe; women directors; gender equality; gender quota; Germany; management; private companies; public companies; supervisory boards; executiveboards; CEOs; women; finance industry; financial sector; private and public banks; insurance companies.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J59 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Other
    • J78 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Public Policy (including comparable worth)
    • L21 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Business Objectives of the Firm
    • L32 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Public Enterprises; Public-Private Enterprises
    • M14 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Corporate Culture; Diversity; Social Responsibility
    • M51 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Firm Employment Decisions; Promotions

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