An international study of board gender diversity and corporate governance

This paper investigates how women on boards influence corporate governance of firms across 60 countries. Using instrumental variables that provide robust results, we find that the percentage of female directors on the board is positively associated with corporate governance mechanisms. In particular, a greater representation of women directors increases the governance and social disclosure in Japan, China, and the UK, and the social and environmental disclosure in 57 countries, the proportion of women employees, the total number of employees, the percentage of independent directors’ board meeting attendance, and marginally increases the percentages of overall board and audit committee meeting attendance.