Gender quotas between glass ceiling crack and firm performance: evidence from Italy's financial sector

Using a panel data of Italian corporate companies, this paper evaluates the impact of mandatory gender quotas in corporate boards in the financial sector. We find that gender quotas reduce glass ceiling barriers in this traditionally male industry, increasing women’s presence on boards of both companies targeted by the law and in those that are not, with positive spillover effects on this subsample. We also find that the higher women’s presence on boards has different impacts on firms’ financial performance: it has a negative effect on the financial sector as a whole and a positive one on firms with small boards. Our results support the introduction of gender quotas, given its positive spillover effects on glass ceiling barriers and on the overall increased women’s presence on boards.