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Doing more with more: Women on the board and firm employment

Tunyi Tunyi Abongeh, Geofry Areneke Orcid Logo, Abiye Tob-Ogu Orcid Logo, Sharif Khalid

Journal of Business Research, Volume: 154, Start page: 113385

Swansea University Author: Tunyi Tunyi Abongeh

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DOI (Published version): 10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.113385

Abstract

While corporations play a pivotal social role by creating employment opportunities, managers typically boost profitability during economic downturns by downsizing. Using a panel of US-listed firms from 2007–2016, we explore the impact of female representation on the board of directors (BOD) on firm-...

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Published in: Journal of Business Research
ISSN: 0148-2963 1873-7978
Published: Elsevier BV 2023
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa65101
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Abstract: While corporations play a pivotal social role by creating employment opportunities, managers typically boost profitability during economic downturns by downsizing. Using a panel of US-listed firms from 2007–2016, we explore the impact of female representation on the board of directors (BOD) on firm-level employment. We find that firm-level employment increases while the likelihood of downsizing decreases with BOD female representation. In corroboration, the level of under-staffing, and hence its associated problems, reduces with BOD female representation. The impact of female directors on employment is stronger in the absence of tokenism, more evident during downturns and shaped by female director typology. Importantly, we find that, while over-staffing problems might emerge, overall employee productivity improves with female representation, suggesting that female directors do not sacrifice shareholder value in pursuit of employee interests. Overall, our results suggest that female directors are crucial in promoting employment in society.
Keywords: Female directors, Firm employment, Downsizing, Under-staffing, Social role theory, Corporate governance
College: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Start Page: 113385

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