Innovative governance for the future: Will gender diversity on boards enhance business performance in the European insurance industry?
Recently, advocacy for gender diversity in corporate governance has intensified, following the hypothesis that heterogeneous boards can optimize management processes and improve financial performance. Existing literature primarily focuses on the banking or financial industry, with limited research o...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | Spanish |
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Elsevier
2025-05-01
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| Series: | European Research on Management and Business Economics |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2444883425000154 |
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| author | María Encina Morales de Vega María-Carmen García-Centeno Ricardo Palomo-Zurdo |
| author_facet | María Encina Morales de Vega María-Carmen García-Centeno Ricardo Palomo-Zurdo |
| author_sort | María Encina Morales de Vega |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Recently, advocacy for gender diversity in corporate governance has intensified, following the hypothesis that heterogeneous boards can optimize management processes and improve financial performance. Existing literature primarily focuses on the banking or financial industry, with limited research on European insurers. Using a sample of 22 insurers included in EUROSTOXX 600 index over 2013–2023, a dynamic panel data model is employed to assess the impact of the presence of women on board and chair positions on Return on Equity (ROE) and Return on Assets (ROA), effectively accounting for unobserved firm characteristics and time-varying data. The results reveal that a female CEO increases performance by 0.3 %, higher female board representation improves returns by 3 %, and a smaller pay gap increases performance by 1 %. On the contrary, the existence of a quota does not have a significant influence due to issues with its design and implementation. These findings support the need to increase the number of women on insurers’ boards to enhance performance and strengthen a company's ethical standing and social responsibility. They are consistent with the literature review, underscoring the significance of gender equality policies in management for enhancing efficiency and innovation in the insurers’ future. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-4f8fb9b94d1d44e89f270eee014efda0 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2444-8834 |
| language | Spanish |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Research on Management and Business Economics |
| spelling | doaj-art-4f8fb9b94d1d44e89f270eee014efda02025-08-20T03:09:12ZspaElsevierEuropean Research on Management and Business Economics2444-88342025-05-0131210028310.1016/j.iedeen.2025.100283Innovative governance for the future: Will gender diversity on boards enhance business performance in the European insurance industry?María Encina Morales de Vega0María-Carmen García-Centeno1Ricardo Palomo-Zurdo2Department of Business Management, Universidad San Pablo-CEU, CEU Universities, Julián Romea St. #23, 28003 Madrid, Spain; Corresponding author.Department of Mathematics and Data Science, Universidad San Pablo-CEU, CEU Universities, Madrid, SpainDepartment of Business Management, Universidad San Pablo-CEU, CEU Universities, Madrid, SpainRecently, advocacy for gender diversity in corporate governance has intensified, following the hypothesis that heterogeneous boards can optimize management processes and improve financial performance. Existing literature primarily focuses on the banking or financial industry, with limited research on European insurers. Using a sample of 22 insurers included in EUROSTOXX 600 index over 2013–2023, a dynamic panel data model is employed to assess the impact of the presence of women on board and chair positions on Return on Equity (ROE) and Return on Assets (ROA), effectively accounting for unobserved firm characteristics and time-varying data. The results reveal that a female CEO increases performance by 0.3 %, higher female board representation improves returns by 3 %, and a smaller pay gap increases performance by 1 %. On the contrary, the existence of a quota does not have a significant influence due to issues with its design and implementation. These findings support the need to increase the number of women on insurers’ boards to enhance performance and strengthen a company's ethical standing and social responsibility. They are consistent with the literature review, underscoring the significance of gender equality policies in management for enhancing efficiency and innovation in the insurers’ future.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2444883425000154M14G22L25J16 |
| spellingShingle | María Encina Morales de Vega María-Carmen García-Centeno Ricardo Palomo-Zurdo Innovative governance for the future: Will gender diversity on boards enhance business performance in the European insurance industry? European Research on Management and Business Economics M14 G22 L25 J16 |
| title | Innovative governance for the future: Will gender diversity on boards enhance business performance in the European insurance industry? |
| title_full | Innovative governance for the future: Will gender diversity on boards enhance business performance in the European insurance industry? |
| title_fullStr | Innovative governance for the future: Will gender diversity on boards enhance business performance in the European insurance industry? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Innovative governance for the future: Will gender diversity on boards enhance business performance in the European insurance industry? |
| title_short | Innovative governance for the future: Will gender diversity on boards enhance business performance in the European insurance industry? |
| title_sort | innovative governance for the future will gender diversity on boards enhance business performance in the european insurance industry |
| topic | M14 G22 L25 J16 |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2444883425000154 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mariaencinamoralesdevega innovativegovernanceforthefuturewillgenderdiversityonboardsenhancebusinessperformanceintheeuropeaninsuranceindustry AT mariacarmengarciacenteno innovativegovernanceforthefuturewillgenderdiversityonboardsenhancebusinessperformanceintheeuropeaninsuranceindustry AT ricardopalomozurdo innovativegovernanceforthefuturewillgenderdiversityonboardsenhancebusinessperformanceintheeuropeaninsuranceindustry |