Gender quota on corporate boards in Italy: spillover effects and financial performance

This paper analyzes the impact of the introduction of mandatory gender quotas for the boards of directors of listed firms and state-participated companies (LP) in Italy. It investigates its effects on firms directly targeted by the new regulation as well as its indirect effects on firms that are not. To this aim, we use difference-in-difference and panel fixed-effects estimations. Our main results are that quotas directly increased female presence on boards of LP companies and produced some “positive spillover effects”, i.e., a higher proportion of women in top executive positions in LP firms and a higher share of women on boards of non-listed firms and non-participated firms (NLNP), even if the latter were not targeted by the law. We also find evidence for a positive impact of higher board gender diversity on firm performance in specific conditions, such as boards of small size and NLNP companies.