Female directors and accounting quality: a quasi natural experiment research

The research delves into the impact of female representation in corporate leadership on accounting quality. It builds on prior studies exploring behavioral differences between genders and aims to investigate how women in top roles influence accounting standards. Focused on Norwegian and Danish firms between 2001 and 2012, the study capitalizes on Norway’s substantial increase in female board members (due to a gender quota) as a quasi-experiment.

Motivated by societal interest and inconclusive prior findings, it seeks to fill gaps in understanding. Employing a robust “difference-in-differences” methodology, it aims to establish a causal relationship between female directors and accounting quality. Unlike earlier studies, this research design helps separate the true impact of female directors from overall governance quality.

The study’s sample includes a higher proportion of female directors than prior research, providing a more comprehensive investigation into the relationship between female representation and accounting quality.

However, despite the significant increase in female directors in Norway, the study’s findings suggest that appointing women to corporate boards didn’t significantly affect accounting quality, as measured by various accounting proxies. These results challenge the assumption that increasing female representation inherently enhances accounting standards. This implies that similar effects might not necessarily apply in different contexts.

For further information, please access the following link:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02102412.2023.2293375?src=

This paper is published in Spanish Journal of Finance and Accounting / Revista
Española de Financiación y Contabilidad

Authors: Garcia-Blandon, J., Argilés-Bosch, J.M., Ravenda, D.