Five shades of women: evidence from Italian listed firms

Purpose – This paper aims to examine empirically the impact of gender diversity on corporate performance\r\nby both comparing different positions occupied by female directors on the boards and their personal-specific\r\ncharacteristics.\r\nDesign/methodology/approach – The paper examines a sample of Italian listed companies during\r\n2006–2015. To deal with endogeneity issues, the authors use a generalized method of moments as an empirical\r\nmethodology.\r\nFindings – The empirical findings show that the positive effect of both independent and executive women\r\ndirectors on firm performance is moderated by the specific characteristics of female directors. Specifically, the\r\nanalyses show that foreign and busy females negatively impact on performance. Conversely, graduate female\r\ndirectors strengthen the positive link between executive women and firm performance.\r\nOriginality/value – The paper sheds light on the consequences of appointing different types of female\r\ndirectors (i.e. independent, executive, graduate, foreign and busy) on firm performance. Our empirical\r\nresearch that investigates the association between gender diversity and performance in the Italian context\r\nbased on a longitudinal study, which involves a period of ten years, allowing consideration both of the\r\nyears before and after the introduction of the gender quota law (Golfo–Mosca law).