The Ethical Role of Pro-Equality Laws in Reducing Executive Gender Pay Gaps under Cultural Resistance
This study investigates how informal cultural norms and formal pro-equality legislation shape the executive gender pay gap (GPG), and whether legal interventions can ethically substitute for weak cultural support for gender equity. We integrate insights from role congruity theory, institutional theo...
| Autores: | , , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2025 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | IE |
| Repositorio: | Repositorio IE |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:repositorio.ie.edu:20.500.14417/3860 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-025-06184-6 https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14417/3860 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10551-025-06184-6 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Diversity Management and Women in Business Feminist Economics Gender Economics Gender Sexuality and Law Politics and Gender Social Policy 63 Sociología::6309 Grupos Sociales::6309.09 Posición social de la mujer ODS 10 - Reducción de las desigualdades ODS 5 - Igualdad de género |
| Sumario: | This study investigates how informal cultural norms and formal pro-equality legislation shape the executive gender pay gap (GPG), and whether legal interventions can ethically substitute for weak cultural support for gender equity. We integrate insights from role congruity theory, institutional theory, and feminist ethics to explain the phenomena. Pro-equality legislation is measured using the World Bank’s Women, Business, and the Law (WBL) Index, while gender egalitarianism is derived from the World Values Surveys. We find that executive pay disparities are most pronounced in less gender-egalitarian societies, especially among non-CEO top management team members and in salary-based compensation. Pro-equality laws—particularly those targeting pay rights, asset ownership, and entrepreneurship—significantly reduce these disparities, with the strongest effects observed in countries with lower cultural egalitarianism. These findings suggest that formal legal reforms can act as ethical correctives where informal norms fail, advancing care-based principles of justice and accountability at the highest organizational levels. Our study contributes to feminist ethics by showing how legal structures can institutionalize equity in the face of cultural resistance. |
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