Gender diversity on the boards of the largest publicly listed companies: A comparison between France and Portugal

• Autor(a) principal: Gonçalves, Joana Rodrigues
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10071/31129
• topic: Corporate governance; Board of directors; Gender diversity; France; Portugal; Governança corporativa; Conselho de administração; Diversidade de género; França

The purpose of this paper is to understand the link between the representation of women on boards of the largest publicly listed companies and indicators from the employment, development, and entrepreneurship fields, in both the French and Portuguese context. Using quantitative analysis, the study seeks to ascertain the correlation between the gender diversity on boards in the countries selected and three specific indicators: the gender wage gap, the percentage of females as members of parliament/assembly, and the share of self-employed women who are employers. Data from 2010 to 2020 was collected from institutional organizations to determine the strength of their relationship with gender diversity on the boards of the largest publicly listed companies in France and Portugal. The investigation results reveal that the relationship between the female share of seats on boards and the gender wage gap is negligible for France, but it has a strong negative relationship in Portugal. The connection between women's political voice and the female presence on boards is quite similar in these countries showing a strong relationship between the two variables. Regarding entrepreneurship, there is a weak connection with gender diversity on boards in France, however, for Portugal, a strong negative correlation exists. This paper highlights the importance of the work performed so far by institutions, policymakers, and companies, although showing that the ratio of gender parity on boards remains jeopardized which underscores a need for continued effort during the upcoming years.