Gender diversity of boardrooms and firm financial performance

The impact of boardroom diversity on firm financial performance has attracted growing research interest in recent years. However, due to the lack of readily available datasets for other parts of the world, most of the evidence is based on the US data. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between gender diversity in the boardrooms and firm financial performance in a region, where it has never been studied before. Using a sample of 60 firms listed in Abu Dhabi and Dubai Stock Exchanges, first the impact of gender diverse boards on the accounting value of the firms is analyzed. Afterwards, stock price reactions to the announcement of the gender quotas on corporate boards in the UAE are examined. The results do not show a significant impact of female directors on the firm’s both accounting and market value. However, these results should be interpreted carefully since the presence of women in leading positions might affect different aspects of the firm practices.