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Why Are So Few Females Promoted into CEO and Vice-President Positions? Danish Empirical Evidence 1997-2007

Author Info

  • Smith, Nina

    ()

    (Aarhus University)

  • Smith, Valdemar

    ()

    (Aarhus School of Business)

  • Verner, Mette

    ()

    (Danish School of Media and Journalism)

Abstract

In most OECD countries, only very few women succeed in reaching top executive positions. In this paper, the probability of promotion into VP and CEO positions is estimated based on employer-employee data on all Danish companies observed during the period 1997-2007. After controlling for a large number of family-related variables, including take-up history of maternity and paternity leave and proxies for 'female-friendly' companies, there is still a considerable gap in the promotion probabilities for CEO positions, but not for VP positions. Thus, the results cannot confirm recent theories on 'belief flipping' or disappearance of statistical discrimination against women who succeed getting into career track positions. The results reflect that the hiring decision and the decision to enter a top position as 'number one', i.e. CEO, in the organization is very different from the decision to hire or become VP, i.e. 'number two' or lower.

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Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 5961.

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Length: 48 pages
Date of creation: Sep 2011
Date of revision:
Publication status: published in: Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 2013, 66 (2), 380-408
Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5961
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Keywords: promotion; top executive positions; statistical discrimination;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
  • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
  • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
  • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
  • M51 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Firm Employment Decisions; Promotions

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  1. Cobb-Clark, D., 1998. "Getting Ahead: the Determinants of and Payoffs to Internal Promotion for Young Men and Women," CEPR Discussion Papers 395, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
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  6. Smith, Nina & Smith, Valdemar & Verner, Mette, 2010. "The Gender Pay Gap in Top Corporate Jobs in Denmark: Glass Ceilings, Sticky Floors or Both?," IZA Discussion Papers 4848, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  7. Francine D. Blau & Jed DeVaro, 2006. "New Evidence on Gender Difference in Promotion Rates: An Empirical Analysis of a Sample of New Hires," NBER Working Papers 12321, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  8. Booth, Alison L. & Francesconi, Marco & Frank, Jeff, 2003. "A sticky floors model of promotion, pay, and gender," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 295-322, April.
  9. Muriel Niederle & Lise Vesterlund, 2005. "Do Women Shy Away From Competition? Do Men Compete Too Much?," NBER Working Papers 11474, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  10. Nabanita Datta Gupta & Ronald L. Oaxaca & Nina Smith, 2006. "Swimming upstream, floating downstream: Comparing women's relative wage progress in the United States and Denmark," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 59(2), pages 243-266, January.
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Cited by:

  1. Masayuki Morikawa, 2014. "What Types of Company Have Female and Foreign Directors?," CAMA Working Papers 2014-47, Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.
  2. Nina Smith, 2014. "Quota Regulations of Gender Composition on Boards of Directors," CESifo DICE Report, Ifo Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 12(2), pages 42-48, 07.
  3. Baert, Stijn & De Pauw, Ann-Sophie & Deschacht, Nick, 2014. "Do Employer Preferences Contribute to Sticky Floors?," IZA Discussion Papers 8447, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  4. Geiler, P.H.M., 2012. "Essays on executive remuneration contracting : Managerial power, corporate payout, and gender discrimination," Other publications TiSEM 3c536b0d-bce3-4d1a-9f6f-3, School of Economics and Management.
  5. Parrotta, Pierpaolo & Smith, Nina, 2013. "Why So Few Women on Boards of Directors? Empirical Evidence from Danish Companies 1997-2007," IZA Discussion Papers 7678, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  6. Joensen, Juanna Schrøter & Nielsen, Helena Skyt, 2013. "Math and Gender: Is Math a Route to a High-Powered Career?," IZA Discussion Papers 7164, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  7. Geiler, P.H.M. & Renneboog, L.D.R., 2014. "Are Female Top Managers Really Paid Less?," Discussion Paper 2014-004, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
  8. Juanna Joensen, 2012. "Math and Gender: What if Girls Do Math?," 2012 Meeting Papers 992, Society for Economic Dynamics.
  9. Masayuki Morikawa, 2014. "What Types of Companies Have Female and Foreign Directors?," AJRC Working Papers 1404, Australia-Japan Research Centre, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.
  10. Parrotta, Pierpaolo & Smith, Nina, 2013. "Female-Led Firms: Performance and Risk Attitudes," IZA Discussion Papers 7613, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).

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