Practice what you preach: A multilevel perspective on stock exchanges’ female directorship

Stock exchanges, as organisations, have traditionally been male-dominated and run as old boys' clubs; however, they increasingly face societal pressures for board gender diversity. Despite these pressures, the gender diversity of exchange boards remains low. Surprisingly, although exchanges are...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Ben Slimane, Faten, Padilla-Angulo, Laura
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Universidad Loyola Andalucía
Repositorio:Brújula
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.uloyola.es:20.500.12412/6768
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12412/6768
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Board gender diversity
board quotas
institutional theory
Stock exchanges
Descripción
Sumario:Stock exchanges, as organisations, have traditionally been male-dominated and run as old boys' clubs; however, they increasingly face societal pressures for board gender diversity. Despite these pressures, the gender diversity of exchange boards remains low. Surprisingly, although exchanges are expected to set an example for corporate governance practices, their board gender strategies have been underexamined. Drawing on institutional theory and the strategic response approach, we use a unique hand-collected firm-level dataset comprising a representative sample of stock exchanges worldwide and covering a 25-year period to investigate the predictors of exchanges' compliance with those pressures, adopting a multilevel approach. We find that mandatory quotas, having a female CEO, and the representation of directors with solid business backgrounds positively impact gender diversity. We also find that national culture plays a role.