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Women on board and performance of family firms: Evidence from India

Author

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  • Jayati Sarkar

    (Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research)

  • Ekta Selarka

    (Madras School of Economics)

Abstract

This paper provides evidence on the effect of women directors on the performance of family firms with a case study of India. Existing literature on the subject has primarily focused on widely held firms, notably in the US. Given that ownership structure and governance environment of family firms are distinctly different from those of non-family firms, the evidence on the relationship between women on board and firm performance in the context of widely held firms may not apply in the context of family firms. India provides an ideal setting for analyzing this question as the presence of family firms is pervasive and since 2013 India has instituted gender quotas on corporate boards. Using a data-set of 10218 firm year observations over a ten year period from 2005 to 2014 which spans the pre-quota and post-quota years, we find robust evidence that women directors on corporate boards positively impact firm value and that this effect increases with the number of women directors on board. However, we find that the positive effect of gender diversity on firm performance weakens with the extent to which the family exerts control through occupying key management positions on the board. In addition, women directors affiliated to the family have no significant effect on firm value, whereas independent women directors do. Our results with respect to profitability are somewhat different; while as in the case of market value, women directors positively impact profitability with the positive effect driven by independent women directors, the effect does not vary with the extent of family control. Taken together, our results suggest that though gender diversity on corporate boards may positively impact firm performance in family firms in general, the extent of family control can have a significant bearing on this relationship. The findings from this study could be instructive for emerging economies like India in promoting gender-based quotas on corporate boards.

Suggested Citation

  • Jayati Sarkar & Ekta Selarka, 2015. "Women on board and performance of family firms: Evidence from India," Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Working Papers 2015-026, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India.
    • Handle: RePEc:ind:igiwpp:2015-026
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Jayati Sarkar & Ekta Selarka, 2015. "Women on Board and Performance of Family Firms: Evidence from India," Working Papers 2015-130, Madras School of Economics,Chennai,India.
    2. Abubakr Saeed & Syed Shafqat Mukarram & Yacine Belghitar, 2021. "Read between the lines: Board gender diversity, family ownership, and risk‐taking in Indian high‐tech firms," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(1), pages 185-207, January.
    3. Zaid Saidat & Claire Seaman & Mauricio Silva & Lara Al-Haddad & Zyad Marashdeh, 2020. "Female Directors, Family Ownership and Firm Performance in Jordan," International Journal of Financial Research, International Journal of Financial Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 11(1), pages 206-219, January.
    4. Neeti Khetarpal Sanan, 2016. "Board Gender Diversity, Financial and Social Performance of Indian Firms," Vision, , vol. 20(4), pages 361-367, December.
    5. Paul B. McGuinness, 2018. "IPO Firm Performance and Its Link with Board Officer Gender, Family-Ties and Other Demographics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(2), pages 499-521, October.
    6. Syed Shafqat Mukarram & Abubakr Saeed & Shawkat Hammoudeh & Muhammad Mustafa Raziq, 2018. "Women on Indian boards and market performance: a role-congruity theory perspective," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 17(1), pages 4-36, February.
    7. Emma García-Meca & Domingo J. Santana-Martín, 2023. "Board gender diversity and performance in family firms: exploring the faultline of family ties," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 17(5), pages 1559-1594, July.
    8. Prashant Gupta & Sheenu Jain, 2020. "Breaking through the periphery: Growing role of women as leaders in Indian family businesses," Indian Journal of Commerce and Management Studies, Educational Research Multimedia & Publications,India, vol. 11(2), pages 33-52, May.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    board of directors; gender diversity; family ownership and control; gender-quota;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • 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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