IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hig/wpaper/94-fe-2024.html

Board Gender Diversity And Bank Performance During Covid-19: Did Women Save The Day?

Author

Listed:
  • Yuliana Loginova

    (National Research University Higher School of Economics)

  • Maria Semenova

    (National Research University Higher School of Economics)

Abstract

This paper explores the impact of board gender diversity on bank performance during the COVID-19 crisis. Using data from 87 European banks from 2015 to 2021, we show that the presence of women on bank boards had a positive impact on bank profitability during the COVID-19 crisis. This effect is more pronounced in countries where the morbidity rate is higher. Our results suggest a negative relationship between the women on bank boards and bank credit risk during the pandemic. The impact of women on insolvency risk, however, appears only for banks with relatively large boards.

Suggested Citation

  • Yuliana Loginova & Maria Semenova, 2024. "Board Gender Diversity And Bank Performance During Covid-19: Did Women Save The Day?," HSE Working papers WP BRP 94/FE/2024, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hig:wpaper:94/fe/2024
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://wp.hse.ru/data/2024/02/14/2095453051/94FE2024.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gulamhussen, Mohamed Azzim & Santa, Sílvia Fonte, 2015. "Female directors in bank boardrooms and their influence on performance and risk-taking," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 10-23.
    2. Muhammad Abubakr Naeem & Sitara Karim & Safwan Mohd Nor & Rusmawati Ismail, 2022. "Sustainable corporate governance and gender diversity on corporate boards: evidence from COVID-19," Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(1), pages 5824-5842, December.
    3. Francis, Bill B. & Hasan, Iftekhar & Wu, Qiang, 2012. "Do corporate boards matter during the current financial crisis?," Review of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 39-52.
    4. Michael L. Lemmon & Karl V. Lins, 2003. "Ownership Structure, Corporate Governance, and Firm Value: Evidence from the East Asian Financial Crisis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(4), pages 1445-1468, August.
    5. Kevin Campbell & Antonio Mínguez-Vera, 2008. "Gender Diversity in the Boardroom and Firm Financial Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 83(3), pages 435-451, December.
    6. Daehyun Kim & Laura T. Starks, 2016. "Gender Diversity on Corporate Boards: Do Women Contribute Unique Skills?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(5), pages 267-271, May.
    7. Schwartz-Ziv, Miriam, 2017. "Gender and Board Activeness: The Role of a Critical Mass," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 52(2), pages 751-780, April.
    8. Elnahass, Marwa & Alharbi, Rana & Mohamed, Toka S. & McLaren, Josie, 2023. "The Nexus among board diversity and bank stability: Implications from gender, nationality and education," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    9. Adams, Renée B. & Mehran, Hamid, 2012. "Bank board structure and performance: Evidence for large bank holding companies," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 243-267.
    10. Lucian A. Bebchuk & Michael S. Weisbach, 2012. "The State of Corporate Governance Research," Springer Books, in: Sabri Boubaker & Bang Dang Nguyen & Duc Khuong Nguyen (ed.), Corporate Governance, edition 127, pages 325-346, Springer.
    11. Owen, Ann L. & Temesvary, Judit, 2018. "The performance effects of gender diversity on bank boards," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 50-63.
    12. Muhammad Ali & Yin Ng & Carol Kulik, 2014. "Board Age and Gender Diversity: A Test of Competing Linear and Curvilinear Predictions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 125(3), pages 497-512, December.
    13. Renée B. Adams & Patricia Funk, 2012. "Beyond the Glass Ceiling: Does Gender Matter?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(2), pages 219-235, February.
    14. Abou-El-Sood, Heba, 2021. "Board gender diversity, power, and bank risk taking," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    15. Morten Huse & Sabina Nielsen & Inger Hagen, 2009. "Women and Employee-Elected Board Members, and Their Contributions to Board Control Tasks," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 89(4), pages 581-597, November.
    16. Oumeima Kacem & Sana El Harbi, 2022. "Do risk governance and effective board affect bank performance? Evidence from large banks worldwide," Risk Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 24(4), pages 461-483, December.
    17. Cardillo, Giovanni & Onali, Enrico & Torluccio, Giuseppe, 2021. "Does gender diversity on banks' boards matter? Evidence from public bailouts," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    18. Sonia Boukattaya & Abdelwahed Omri, 2021. "Impact of Board Gender Diversity on Corporate Social Responsibility and Irresponsibility: Empirical Evidence from France," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-14, April.
    19. Pathan, Shams & Faff, Robert, 2013. "Does board structure in banks really affect their performance?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 1573-1589.
    20. Peter-Jan Engelen & Annette Berg & Gerwin Laan, 2012. "Board Diversity as a Shield During the Financial Crisis," Springer Books, in: Sabri Boubaker & Bang Dang Nguyen & Duc Khuong Nguyen (ed.), Corporate Governance, edition 127, pages 259-285, Springer.
    21. Simona Galletta & Sebastiano Mazzù & Valeria Naciti & Carlo Vermiglio, 2022. "Gender diversity and sustainability performance in the banking industry," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(1), pages 161-174, January.
    22. Jia Lu & Agyenim Boateng, 2018. "Board composition, monitoring and credit risk: evidence from the UK banking industry," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 51(4), pages 1107-1128, November.
    23. Catarina Fernandes & Jorge Farinha & Francisco Vitorino Martins & Cesario Mateus, 2017. "Supervisory boards, financial crisis and bank performance: do board characteristics matter?," Journal of Banking Regulation, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 18(4), pages 310-337, November.
    24. José María Díez-Esteban & Jorge Bento Farinha & Conrado Diego García-Gómez & Cesario Mateus, 2022. "Does board composition and ownership structure affect banks’ systemic risk? European evidence," Journal of Banking Regulation, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 23(2), pages 155-172, June.
    25. Ankur Shukla & Narayanasamy Sivasankaran & Prakash Singh & Ayyaluswamy Kanagaraj & Shibashish Chakraborty, 2021. "Do Women Directors Impact the Risk and Return of Indian Banks?," IIM Kozhikode Society & Management Review, , vol. 10(1), pages 44-65, January.
    26. Benjamin E. Hermalin & Michael S. Weisbach, 1988. "The Determinants of Board Composition," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 19(4), pages 589-606, Winter.
    27. Gul, Ferdinand A. & Srinidhi, Bin & Ng, Anthony C., 2011. "Does board gender diversity improve the informativeness of stock prices?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 314-338, April.
    28. Regina M. Reinert & Florian Weigert & Christoph H. Winnefeld, 2016. "Does female management influence firm performance? Evidence from Luxembourg banks," Financial Markets and Portfolio Management, Springer;Swiss Society for Financial Market Research, vol. 30(2), pages 113-136, May.
    29. 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.
    30. Wintoki, M. Babajide & Linck, James S. & Netter, Jeffry M., 2012. "Endogeneity and the dynamics of internal corporate governance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(3), pages 581-606.
    31. Adusei, Michael, 2019. "Board gender diversity and the technical efficiency of microfinance institutions: Does size matter?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 393-411.
    32. Rey Dang & Linh-Chi Vo, 2012. "Women on Corporate Boards of Directors: Theories, Facts and Analysis," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Sabri Boubaker & Duc Khuong Nguyen (ed.), Board Directors and Corporate Social Responsibility, chapter 1, pages 3-21, Palgrave Macmillan.
    33. María del Carmen Valls Martínez & Salvador Cruz Rambaud & Isabel María Parra Oller, 2019. "Gender policies on board of directors and sustainable development," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(6), pages 1539-1553, November.
    34. World Bank, 2020. "Global Economic Prospects, January 2020," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 33044.
    35. 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.
    36. 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.
    37. Akbar, Saeed & Kharabsheh, Buthiena & Poletti-Hughes, Jannine & Shah, Syed Zulfiqar Ali, 2017. "Board structure and corporate risk taking in the UK financial sector," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 101-110.
    38. Elnahass, Marwa & Salama, Aly & Yusuf, Noora, 2022. "Earnings management and internal governance mechanisms: The role of religiosity," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    39. repec:eme:mfppss:mf-09-2020-0474 is not listed on IDEAS
    40. Supriya Garikipati & Uma Kambhampati, 2021. "Leading the Fight Against the Pandemic: Does Gender Really Matter?," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(1-2), pages 401-418, April.
    41. Stephen Bear & Noushi Rahman & Corinne Post, 2010. "The Impact of Board Diversity and Gender Composition on Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Reputation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 97(2), pages 207-221, December.
    42. Farrell, Kathleen A. & Hersch, Philip L., 2005. "Additions to corporate boards: the effect of gender," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 11(1-2), pages 85-106, March.
    43. Alharbi, Rana & Elnahass, Marwa & McLaren, Josie, 2022. "Women directors and market valuation: What are the “Wonder Woman” attributes in banking?," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    44. Hani El-Chaarani & Rebecca Abraham & Yahya Skaf, 2022. "The Impact of Corporate Governance on the Financial Performance of the Banking Sector in the MENA (Middle Eastern and North African) Region: An Immunity Test of Banks for COVID-19," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-21, February.
    45. Giuliana Birindelli & Antonia Patrizia Iannuzzi & Marco Savioli, 2019. "The impact of women leaders on environmental performance: Evidence on gender diversity in banks," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(6), pages 1485-1499, November.
    46. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    47. World Bank, 2020. "Global Economic Prospects, June 2020," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 33748.
    48. Nicola Cucari & Salvatore Esposito De Falco & Beatrice Orlando, 2018. "Diversity of Board of Directors and Environmental Social Governance: Evidence from Italian Listed Companies," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(3), pages 250-266, May.
    49. Marwa Elnahass & Kamil Omoteso & Aly Salama & Vu Quang Trinh, 2020. "Differential market valuations of board busyness across alternative banking models," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 55(1), pages 201-238, July.
    50. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
    51. Rachel Croson & Uri Gneezy, 2009. "Gender Differences in Preferences," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(2), pages 448-474, June.
    52. Rania Beji & Ouidad Yousfi & Nadia Loukil & Abdelwahed Omri, 2021. "Board Diversity and Corporate Social Responsibility: Empirical Evidence from France," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 173(1), pages 133-155, September.
    53. 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.
    54. David A. Carter & Betty J. Simkins & W. Gary Simpson, 2003. "Corporate Governance, Board Diversity, and Firm Value," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 38(1), pages 33-53, February.
    55. 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.
    56. Kara, Alper & Nanteza, Aziidah & Ozkan, Aydin & Yildiz, Yilmaz, 2022. "Board gender diversity and responsible banking during the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    57. Faccio, Mara & Marchica, Maria-Teresa & Mura, Roberto, 2016. "CEO gender, corporate risk-taking, and the efficiency of capital allocation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 193-209.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Zavertiaeva, M. & Kirpishchikov, D. & Kireecheva, A. & Chekmareva, E. & Akulich, E., 2026. "The impact of board members from banks with revoked licenses on the performance of the Russian companies," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 70(1), pages 302-326.

    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. Kara, Alper & Nanteza, Aziidah & Ozkan, Aydin & Yildiz, Yilmaz, 2022. "Board gender diversity and responsible banking during the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    2. Elnahass, Marwa & Alharbi, Rana & Mohamed, Toka S. & McLaren, Josie, 2023. "The Nexus among board diversity and bank stability: Implications from gender, nationality and education," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    3. Garanina, Tatiana & Muravyev, Alexander, 2021. "The gender composition of corporate boards and firm performance: Evidence from Russia," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    4. Maria Fátima Ribeiro Borges & Graça Maria do Carmo Azevedo & Jonas Oliveira, 2025. "Literature review on gender diversity in top management teams of companies and its relationship with firm performance and audit quality," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(1), pages 177-201, March.
    5. 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.
    6. Alharbi, Rana & Elnahass, Marwa & McLaren, Josie, 2022. "Women directors and market valuation: What are the “Wonder Woman” attributes in banking?," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    7. Elnahass, Marwa & Alharbi, Rana & Mohamed, Toka S. & McLaren, Josie, 2024. "Women directors’ attributes and demographics: New insights into bank risk," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    8. Farag, Hisham & Mallin, Chris, 2017. "Board diversity and financial fragility: Evidence from European banks," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 98-112.
    9. Yuan Chang & Kun-Tsung Wu & Shu-Hui Lin & Chia-Jung Lin, 2024. "Board gender diversity and corporate social responsibility," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 1-29, December.
    10. Bayly, Nicholas & Breunig, Robert & Wokker, Chris, 2023. "Female Board Representation and Corporate Performance: A Review and New Estimates for Australia," IZA Discussion Papers 16617, IZA Network @ LISER.
    11. Aljughaiman, Abdullah A. & Cao, Ngan Duong & Trinh, Vu Quang & Albarrak, Mohammed & Vo, Xuan Vinh, 2023. "Does gender diversity affect financial strength differently in conventional and Islamic banks? Evidence from MENA countries," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    12. Owen, Ann L. & Temesvary, Judit, 2018. "The performance effects of gender diversity on bank boards," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 50-63.
    13. Nguyen, Thi Hong Hanh & Ntim, Collins G. & Malagila, John K., 2020. "Women on corporate boards and corporate financial and non-financial performance: A systematic literature review and future research agenda," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    14. Cardillo, Giovanni & Onali, Enrico & Torluccio, Giuseppe, 2021. "Does gender diversity on banks' boards matter? Evidence from public bailouts," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    15. Jie Chen & Woon Sau Leung & Wei Song & Marc Goergen, 2018. "Why female board representation matters: The role of female directors in reducing male CEO overconfidence in corporate decisions," Working Papers 2018-12, Swansea University, School of Management.
    16. Catarina Fernandes & Jorge Farinha & Francisco Vitorino Martins & Cesario Mateus, 2018. "Bank governance and performance: a survey of the literature," Journal of Banking Regulation, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(3), pages 236-256, July.
    17. 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).
    18. Simona Galletta & Sebastiano Mazzù & Valeria Naciti & Carlo Vermiglio, 2022. "Gender diversity and sustainability performance in the banking industry," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(1), pages 161-174, January.
    19. Gambacorta, Leonardo & Pancotto, Livia & Reghezza, Alessio & Spaggiari, Martina, 2022. "Gender diversity in bank boardrooms and green lending: Evidence from euro area credit register data," CEPR Discussion Papers 17650, Centre for Economic Policy Research.
    20. Mollah, Sabur & Liljeblom, Eva & Mobarek, Asma, 2021. "Heterogeneity in independent non-executive directors' attributes and risk-taking in large banks," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • O16 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:hig:wpaper:94/fe/2024. 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: Shamil Abdulaev or Shamil Abdulaev (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/hsecoru.html .

    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.