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New diversity at corporate boards
Type
conference paper
Date Issued
2005-05-06
Author(s)
Abstract
This paper sheds some light on new diversity entering modern corporate boards by scrutinising its antecedents and interactions with other aspects of board composition such as more traditional demographic forms of diversity and directors' independence. In a sample of 210 Swiss publicly listed firms over a period of three years (2001-2003) we analyse firm and board level antecedents of board nationality and gender diversity. Further, we look closely at the characteristics of all 1678 directors in the year 2003 in order to investigate how board members nationality and gender interact with directors' level of independence, number of other directorships and demographic characteristics. Our results suggest that whereas foreign directors tend to be more independent, women directors are more likely to be affiliated to firm management through family ties and that foreign directors hold significantly lower number of directorships at other Swiss boards. Diverse directors also differ in terms of educational background, educational level, age and board tenure. We conclude that to manage new diversity at corporate boards it is important to understand the characteristics, qualifications and affiliations that diverse directors bring to the boardroom.
Language
English
Keywords
board composition
nationality diversity
gender diversity
directors' characteristics
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Refereed
Yes
Event Title
5th European Academy of Management Conference (EURAM) 2005
Event Location
Munich
Event Date
04.-07.05.2005
Subject(s)
Eprints ID
16372