%0 Journal Article %1 joecks2012gender %A Joecks, Jasmin %A Pull, Kerstin %A Vetter, Karin %D 2012 %I Springer Netherlands %J Journal of Business Ethics %K board board-level_employee_representation diversity gender performance supervisory_board %P 1-12 %R 10.1007/s10551-012-1553-6 %T Gender Diversity in the Boardroom and Firm Performance: What Exactly Constitutes a “Critical Mass?” %U http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1553-6 %X The under-representation of women on boards is a heavily discussed topic—not only in Germany. Based on critical mass theory and with the help of a hand-collected panel dataset of 151 listed German firms for the years 2000–2005, we explore whether the link between gender diversity and firm performance follows a U-shape. Controlling for reversed causality, we find evidence for gender diversity to at first negatively affect firm performance and—only after a “critical mass” of about 30 % women has been reached—to be associated with higher firm performance than completely male boards. Given our sample firms, the critical mass of 30 % women translates into an absolute number of about three women on the board and hence supports recent studies on a corresponding “magic number” of women in the boardroom.

@article{joecks2012gender, abstract = {The under-representation of women on boards is a heavily discussed topic—not only in Germany. Based on critical mass theory and with the help of a hand-collected panel dataset of 151 listed German firms for the years 2000–2005, we explore whether the link between gender diversity and firm performance follows a U-shape. Controlling for reversed causality, we find evidence for gender diversity to at first negatively affect firm performance and—only after a “critical mass” of about 30 % women has been reached—to be associated with higher firm performance than completely male boards. Given our sample firms, the critical mass of 30 % women translates into an absolute number of about three women on the board and hence supports recent studies on a corresponding “magic number” of women in the boardroom.}, added-at = {2012-12-19T16:16:29.000+0100}, author = {Joecks, Jasmin and Pull, Kerstin and Vetter, Karin}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2d1cdc38956dd378be535b4df0cd60874/meneteqel}, doi = {10.1007/s10551-012-1553-6}, interhash = {d4731e7c19281d60d8dc28e4c69579e6}, intrahash = {d1cdc38956dd378be535b4df0cd60874}, issn = {0167-4544}, journal = {Journal of Business Ethics}, keywords = {board board-level_employee_representation diversity gender performance supervisory_board}, language = {English}, pages = {1-12}, publisher = {Springer Netherlands}, timestamp = {2012-12-19T16:16:29.000+0100}, title = {Gender Diversity in the Boardroom and Firm Performance: What Exactly Constitutes a “Critical Mass?”}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1553-6}, year = 2012 }