Board Gender Diversity, Governance, and Firm Value: An International Evidence

Using firms across 95 countries, the paper finds that a higher percentage of females on the boards is associated with better corporate governance practices concerning the proportion of independent directors, governance disclosure, employee Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) training, existence of a CSR committee, and board age diversity. Propensity score matching finds that a higher representation of females on the boards can improve board independence, disclosure, CSR training, and firm value. Based on instrumental variable analysis, the findings show that more female directors positively and significantly affect the board age diversity, independent directors, governance disclosure (with GDI annual), and market value.