The Glass Pyramid: Informal Gender Status Hierarchy on Boards

Lívia Markóczy (), Sunny Li Sun () and Jigao Zhu ()
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Lívia Markóczy: University of Texas at Dallas
Sunny Li Sun: University of Massachusetts Lowell
Jigao Zhu: University of International Business and Economics

Journal of Business Ethics, 2021, vol. 168, issue 4, No 9, 827-845

Abstract: Abstract Drawing on the status characteristic theory, we investigate the effect of gender on board directors’ status ranking and find that all else being equal, female directors’ status ranking is 81.48% of one position lower than that of male directors, a discrepancy that is attributable to gender. We theorize on the mechanism that determines the ways in which the status value of gender on a board affects board interactions, and we predict how this mechanism influences firm outcomes, including excessive managerial spending, social responsibility performance, and firm risk. We test our hypotheses in Chinese firms using an unbalanced panel that includes 5396 firm-year observations (86,019 director-year observations) for a period of 6 years and find them supported.

Keywords: Women on boards; Gender category-based status beliefs; Informal status structure of boards; Firm outcomes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10551-019-04247-z

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