The determinants of the existence of a critical mass of women on boards: A discriminant analysis

Amélie Charles (1) , Etienne Redor (1) , Constantin Zopounidis (1)

1 Audencia Recherche

This article contributes to the literature by examining the determinants of the existence of a critical mass of women on boards. As critical mass theory suggests, the mere presence of women on boards may not be sufficient to bring significant change to the boardroom and to improve corporate governance. While studying the determinants of female presence on boards is useful, it may be helpful to study what are the characteristics of firms that have a sufficient number of women to enhance governance. In this paper, we study the predictors of the existence of a critical mass of women on S&P 100 boards between 1995 and 2010. We show that firms with at least three female directors have larger boards, are larger, are more likely to be run by a female CEO and have a greater proportion of non-Caucasian directors. On the contrary, we were not able to show significant differences in firm performance and board independence between firms with and without a critical mass of women on their boards.

Keywords: Women; Board; Critical mass theory

Domains: Economics and Finance

Amélie Charles, Etienne Redor, Constantin Zopounidis. The determinants of the existence of a critical mass of women on boards: A discriminant analysis. Economics Bulletin, 2015, 35 (3), pp.185-197. ⟨hal-01188269⟩