The Female Dimension of the Board of Directors and its Impact on Firm Value: A Narrative Review
Keywords:
Board diversity, gender equality, value creation, human capital
Abstract
This paper aims to study the existing relationship between the female dimension of the board of directors and its impact on firm value. It is essential to stop and focus on why it is crucial to create value inside companies. The board of directors is the centre where major business decisions are made. The future success or failure of the company depends on the decisions that directors make today. The idea of the future companies comes from the board of directors. From here, we understand the importance of profoundly reading the mechanisms that govern this organization. If we analyse the etymological sense of the term “value,” we consider everything worthy of being considered: economic benefits, but not only. In recent years, corporate culture has been a discriminating factor when the economic crisis has led companies to exercise resilience actions. The COVID-19 pandemic and the international unrest then questioned how to do business. The market scenarios in which companies operate have changed. One element that made the difference was the mental flexibility of administrators. During these years, the company culture has made a difference. We provided a critical and narrative review of the most significant academic research papers and texts dedicated to studying the culture of women’s enterprises. The database that was used for the search is Scopus. The study was conducted to offer a new key to reading these phenomena.
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References
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15. Goldin, C. (2016). Human Capital. In: Handbook of Cliometrics. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer Verlag.
16. Greene, D., Intintoli, V. J., & Kahle, K. M. (2020). Do board gender quotas affect firm value? Evidence from California Senate Bill No. 826. Journal of Corporate Finance, 60, 101526.
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19. Hermalin, B. E., & Weisbach, M. S. (1998). Endogenously chosen boards of directors and their monitoring of the CEO. American Economic Review, 96-118.
20. Khatib, S. F., Abdullah, D. F., Elamer, A., Yahaya, I. S., & Owusu, A. (2023). Global trends in board diversity research: A bibliometric view. Meditari Accountancy Research, 31(2), 441-469.
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27. Li, Y., de Villiers, C., Li, L. Z., & Li, L. (2022). The moderating effect of board gender diversity on the relation between corporate social responsibility and firm value. Journal of Management Control, 33(1), 109-143.
28. Martinez-Jimenez, R., Hernández-Ortiz, M. J., & Cabrera Fernández, A. I. (2020). Gender diversity influence on board effectiveness and business performance. Corporate Governance: The international journal of business in society, 20(2), 307-323.
29. Mitchell, F., Reid, G. C., & Terry, N. G. (1997). Venture capital supply and accounting information system development. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 21(4), 45-62.
30. Paoloni, P., & Demartini, P. (2016). Women in management: Perspectives on a decade of research (2005–2015). Palgrave Communications, 2(1), 1-7.
31. Stewart, T. A. (1998). The New Wealth of Organizations: Intellectual Capital (Granica, Buenos Aires).
32. Sukhera, J. (2022). Narrative reviews: flexible, rigorous, and practical. Journal of graduate medical education, 14(4), 414-417.
33. Wang, Y., Abbasi, K., Babajide, B., & Yekini, K. C. (2020). Corporate governance mechanisms and firm performance: evidence from the emerging market following the revised CG code. Corporate Governance: The international journal of business in society, 20(1), 158-174.
34. Zanda, G. (2007). Corporate Governance: Modelli teorici e impresa reale. Giappichelli, Torino.
2. Baatour, K., & Ben Saada, M. (2024). Regulatory accounting environment, cultural values and board efficacy in developing countries. PSU Research Review, 8(2), 428-442.
3. Bursali, Y. M. (2017). Women on Boards of Directors: Is It Possible to Exist in Old Boys’ Club?, European Scientific Journal, ESJ 13 (10).
4. Campbell, K., & Minguez Vera, A. (2010). Female board appointments and firm valuation: Short and long-term effects”, Journal of Management & Governance, 14, pp. 37-59.
5. Carrasco, A., Francoeur, C., Labelle, R., Laffarga, J., & Ruiz-Barbadillo, E. (2015). Appointing women to boards: is there a cultural bias?. Journal of Business Ethics, 129(2), 429-444
6. Carter, M. E., Franco, F., & Gine, M. (2017). Executive gender pay gaps: The roles of female risk aversion and board representation. Contemporary Accounting Research, 34(2), 1232-1264.
7. Cesaroni, F. M., Demartini, P., & Paoloni, P. (2017). Women in business and social media: Implications for female entrepreneurship in emerging countries. African Journal of Business Management, 11(14), 316-326.
8. Chen, C. W., Velasquez Tuliao, K., Cullen, J. B., & Chang, Y. Y. (2016). Does gender influence managers’ ethics? A cross‐cultural analysis. Business Ethics: A European Review, 25(4), 345-362.
9. Claus, V. A., Callahan, J., & Sandlin, J. R. (2013). Culture and leadership: Women in nonprofit and for-profit leadership positions within the European Union. Human Resource Development International, 16(3), 330-345.
10. Dodd, O., & Zheng, B. (2022). Does board cultural diversity contributed by foreign directors improve firm performance? Evidence from Australia. Journal of risk and financial management, 15(8), 332.
11. Drago, C., Millo, F., Ricciuti, R., & Santella, P. (2012). The role of women in the Italian network of boards of directors, 2003-2010. Rivista di Politica Economica, 110(4-6), 161-185.
12. Eagly, A. H., & Sczesny, S. (2009). Stereotypes about women, men, and leaders: Have times changed?. American Psychological Association.
13. Ferrari, R. (2015). Writing narrative style literature reviews. Medical Writing, 24(4), 230–235.
14. Gamba, M., & Goldstein, A. (2009). The gender dimension of business elites: Italian women directors since 1934. Journal of Modern Italian Studies, 14(2), 199-225.
15. Goldin, C. (2016). Human Capital. In: Handbook of Cliometrics. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer Verlag.
16. Greene, D., Intintoli, V. J., & Kahle, K. M. (2020). Do board gender quotas affect firm value? Evidence from California Senate Bill No. 826. Journal of Corporate Finance, 60, 101526.
17. Green, B. N., Johnson, C. D., & Adams, A. (2006). Writing narrative literature reviews for peer-reviewed journals: secrets of the trade. Journal of chiropractic medicine, 5(3), 101-117.
18. Gul, F. A., Srinidhi, B., & Ng, A. C. (2011). Does board gender diversity improve the informativeness of stock prices?. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 51(3), 314-338.
19. Hermalin, B. E., & Weisbach, M. S. (1998). Endogenously chosen boards of directors and their monitoring of the CEO. American Economic Review, 96-118.
20. Khatib, S. F., Abdullah, D. F., Elamer, A., Yahaya, I. S., & Owusu, A. (2023). Global trends in board diversity research: A bibliometric view. Meditari Accountancy Research, 31(2), 441-469.
21. Kiel, G. C., & Nicholson, G. J. (2003). Board composition and corporate performance: How the Australian experience informs contrasting theories of corporate governance. Corporate governance: an international review, 11(3), 189-205.
22. Kılıç, M., & Kuzey, C. (2016). The effect of board gender diversity on firm performance: evidence from Turkey. Gender in management: An international journal, 31(7), 434-455
23. Kim, O., Kuang, Y. F., & Qin, B. (2020). Female representation on boards and CEO performance‐induced turnover: Evidence from Russia. Corporate Governance: An International Review, 28(3), 235-260.
24. Kreckova, Z. (2013). Are Quotas Solving the Problem?. European Scientific Journal, 9(34).
25. Lang, G., and Heiss, G. D. (1998). A practical guide to research methods. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 17-21.
26. Lee, L.E., Marshall, R., Rallis, D., & Moscardi, M. (2015). Women On Boards Global Trends in Gender Diversity On Corporate Boards. MSCI: Research Insights, November 2015.
27. Li, Y., de Villiers, C., Li, L. Z., & Li, L. (2022). The moderating effect of board gender diversity on the relation between corporate social responsibility and firm value. Journal of Management Control, 33(1), 109-143.
28. Martinez-Jimenez, R., Hernández-Ortiz, M. J., & Cabrera Fernández, A. I. (2020). Gender diversity influence on board effectiveness and business performance. Corporate Governance: The international journal of business in society, 20(2), 307-323.
29. Mitchell, F., Reid, G. C., & Terry, N. G. (1997). Venture capital supply and accounting information system development. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 21(4), 45-62.
30. Paoloni, P., & Demartini, P. (2016). Women in management: Perspectives on a decade of research (2005–2015). Palgrave Communications, 2(1), 1-7.
31. Stewart, T. A. (1998). The New Wealth of Organizations: Intellectual Capital (Granica, Buenos Aires).
32. Sukhera, J. (2022). Narrative reviews: flexible, rigorous, and practical. Journal of graduate medical education, 14(4), 414-417.
33. Wang, Y., Abbasi, K., Babajide, B., & Yekini, K. C. (2020). Corporate governance mechanisms and firm performance: evidence from the emerging market following the revised CG code. Corporate Governance: The international journal of business in society, 20(1), 158-174.
34. Zanda, G. (2007). Corporate Governance: Modelli teorici e impresa reale. Giappichelli, Torino.
Published
2025-09-07
How to Cite
Granata, G., Turchetta, A., Gigli, S., & Cennamo, A. (2025). The Female Dimension of the Board of Directors and its Impact on Firm Value: A Narrative Review. European Scientific Journal, ESJ, 45, 1. Retrieved from https://eujournal.org/index.php/esj/article/view/19994
Section
ESI Preprints
Copyright (c) 2025 Giuseppe Granata, Anna Turchetta, Sara Gigli, Antonio Cennamo
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
